He was responding to an oral question in the National Assembly on Tuesday on what government was doing to ensure full rights for people with disabilities.

“We will also continue to promote the inclusion of persons with disability in the mainstream economy through instruments such as the Employment Equity Act and the Black Economic Empowerment Act amongst others.

“The recent Employment Equity Commission report indicated dismal figures with regards to the representation of persons with disability at top and senior management levels in the workplace. This was put at 0.8%, together with that of African women.

“Solutions to this challenge that we are looking at includes the proposed amendments to the Employment Equity Act to incorporate proposals such as increasing the fines imposed on employers to deter them from not complying with the Act.

“The amendment also seeks to amend the definition of designated groups, to limit the meaning of black people, women and persons with disabilities to South African citizens and to those who have become citizens through naturalization,” he said. 

Other special initiatives with regards to job opportunities for include the Department of Labour's initiative of funding and managing Sheltered Employment Factories for persons with disabilities.

There are 12 such factories currently and discussions are at an advanced stage for them to be increased and transformed.

To date, a total of 981 331 persons with disability get the disability grant from government, while a total of 122 153 children with disabilities receive the care dependency grant to assist their care givers to look after them. In addition, 248 589 persons with temporary disability receive the temporary disability grant.

These grants contribute immensely to the alleviation of poverty.

Despite Zuma’s response, some opposition parties in the house complained that nothing had been done for disabled people, saying they were still being ignored.

The parties alleged that some government officials did not know about the UN convention and continued to disregard disabled people.