In support of the initiatives by The Presidency towards the economic empowerment of persons with disabilities, South African Job Portal (www.Jobs.co.za) and National Database for Disabled Persons (www.jobaccess.co.za) today announce their partnership that aims to address the fundamental crisis of unemployment amongst South Africans with disabilities.
With approval of the Office on the Status of Disabled People in the Presidency, JobAccess.co.za and Jobs.co.za have together, developed a National Database for Disabled Persons where people with disabilities can register their CVís and Recruiters and Employers can advertise employment opportunities specific to people with disabilities.
The Office on the Status of Disabled Persons (OSDP) in the Presidency, as part of the Danish funded economic empowerment pilot project, has partnered with JobAccess in an initiative towards the economic empowerment of persons with disabilities. This partnership includes creating a highly visible platform for Employers and Recruiters to advertise positions specifically for persons with disabilities as well as creating a CVís database of job candidates with disabilities. Since June 2008, 731 active candidates with disabilities have been registered on the system and a number of employment opportunities for people with disabilities have been advertised.
Gillian Meier, CEO of Jobs.co.za comments on the partnership: ìThe partnership with JobAccess will offer a further extension to existing Jobs.co.za Recruiters where to this niche database of Job Seekers with disabilities. Jobs.co.za clients will now also have the opportunity to advertise their job opportunities to people with disabilities via the JobAccess website.î
Says Tertia Calitz, founder of JobAccess: ëOur vision is to become the preferred supplier of online job advertising for people with disabilities and the development of this National database comes as a result of the huge demand for skills of people with disabilities. Our database is unique in that it only carries CVís of people with disabilities. The partnership with Jobs.co.za will allow us not only to extend the reach of our niche job advertisements on their South African job portal, but will also encourage more Job Seekers with disabilities to register their CVís on our unique database.î
In a speech at the National Disability Summit in July this year, Dr E Pahad (Minister in the Presidency) referred to the publication of The Presidencyís Development Indicators where evidence is provided on the impact of government programmes on the lives of South Africans. Regarding disability, the three themes; namely employment, education and social security were addressed, where trends indicated that Government provides support to persons with disability through various initiatives in schools and places of work. The 2007 Community Survey estimated that people with disability constitute 4% of South Africaís population, and while opportunities have increased there are still insufficient services and opportunities for people with disability to participate equally in society. The target of 2% of public service jobs to be occupied by people with disability, set by the White Paper on Affirmative Action in the Public Service, 1998, has not yet been reached.
Jobs.co.za Announces Partnership with National Database for Disabled Persons
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