THE BARRIERS TO PROMOTION EXPERIENCED BY PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA
THE BARRIERS TO PROMOTION EXPERIENCED BY PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims to identify barriers to promotion experienced by persons with disabilities at the selected Limpopo Provincial Departments in South Africa. Furthermore, the paper investigates how persons with disabilities overcome promotional barriers. The study is exploratory and adopts a qualitative approach. It focuses on two provincial departments of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The departments are the Department of Social Development (DSD) and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD). The total population of the study is 189 and comprises 25 (18 from DSD and 7 from DARD) persons with disabilities and 164 (22 from DSD and 142 from DARD) human resource officials. Eighteen (18) respondents were purposively sampled, nine persons with different disabilities and nine human resource officials. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using an interview guide to allow respondents to disclose their thoughts and feelings about promotional experiences. Some interviews were conducted faceto-face and others virtually due to time and financial constraints. Data was collected using secondary information such as government policies, reports, prescripts and publications. Thematic analysis was used and themes were induced from the interview data. Data was presented in the form of tables and percentages. The study was limited to persons with disabilities and HRM officials. The findings show that the majority of persons with disabilities applied for promotion and got promoted. However, they are still in the same positions they got promoted to in previous years and mentioned several barriers to their promotion. The findings revealed several barriers to promotion such as a lack of promotional posts and opportunities, institutional barriers and a lack of assistive devices. The study recommends that a capacity development programme be introduced to persons with disabilities in provincial departments.

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