Devan Moosamy | March 4, 2025
Despite South Africa's progressive labor laws, the country continues to fail with its biggest disability group: the visually impaired people. It is estimated that over a million South Africans live with some form of visual impairment, and statistics show that over 70% of working-age visual impaired people are unemployed.
While businesses love to talk about diversity, equity and inclusion, there is a noticeable gap when it comes to actual employment opportunities for people with disabilities, especially those with low vision and blindness.
The biggest question we should ask is why this is still happening in 2025 when solutions exist. Why are South African businesses still reluctant to hire visually impaired professionals?
One of the biggest misconceptions is that hiring visually impaired people requires expensive workplace changes. This is simply not true.
Assisted technology is widely available at an affordable price – Screen readers, magnifying software, and text-to-spic applications are already integrated into most modern computers and can be downloaded for free or purchased at a low cost.
Minor adjustments have a big impact – Simple changes such as clear signs, tactile markings, contrast colors, good lighting, and more will greatly improve accessibility for visually impaired employees without the need for large investments.
Remote work has changed the game – Many visually impaired employees can work efficiently from home, eliminating the challenges of mobility and the need for large workplace changes.
However, despite these easily available tools, most South African companies have done nothing to create an accessible work environment for visually impaired employees.
There is another major misconception. This means that visually impaired individuals are only suitable for the role of power distribution board operation, massage therapy, or basic management. reality? Visually impaired professionals can thrive in a wide range of industries, from customer service to legal, IT and finance.
Here are some areas where they can be superior:
Call Center and Customer Support – Screen reading software allows visually impaired individuals to process customer queries, provide IT support and process orders.
Content writing and marketing – Many visually impaired professionals work in copywriting, SEO, social media management, and PR.
Data capture and management – With the right tools, visually impaired employees can manage their databases, update spreadsheets, and process reports.
The role of law and HR – Accessible digital documents and Braille-supported materials make it impossible for visually impaired employees to work in law firms, HR departments, or compliance teams.
Public speaking and training – Many visually impaired professionals thrive as motivational speakers, facilitators and trainers.
There is no reason why South African businesses cannot hire, train and support visually impaired employees. The problem is not a lack of competence, but a lack of effort from the company.
South Africa's labor law requires businesses to implement employment equity and inclusion of obstacles. However, most companies are not actively hiring visually impaired candidates yet.
Some companies argue that it is too complicated. Others say they don't know how. But here is the reality:
Technology already exists.
Training programs already exist.
The law already requires that.
So why are we still seeing such high unemployment rates among visually impaired South Africans?
One reason is the indifference of the company. It's easy to argue that businesses are inclusive. It is much more difficult to be inclusive in practice.
Businesses must go beyond “talking about diversity” and begin actively hiring and training visually impaired employees.
At ICHAF Training Institute, we have spent years developing training programs that include professional disabilities to help visually impaired employees integrate into the workforce.
Call Center Training for Visually Impaired Candidates – Teach customer service, technical support and how to work with telesales.
Microsoft Office and IT Training – covers Excel, Word, and Outlook, using screen reading technology.
Soft Skills and Workplace Preparation – Interview Training, CV Preparation, Workplace Etiquette Coaching.
Custom Corporate Training – Help businesses implement accessible employment and workplace policies.
Companies that are not currently acting ignore the entire workforce of capable and skilled individuals.
The reality is simple. If your company is not actively working to hire visually impaired individuals, you are part of the problem.
This is not just a moral issue, it is a business issue. Companies investing in inclusive employment benefit:
Increased innovation and problem solving – Increases performance for diverse teams and brings new perspectives.
Retaining higher employees – People with disabilities will stay longer at work if they are properly supported.
The company's reputation has improved – Disability inclusion indicates leadership and responsibility.
If you are a South African business and are not actively hiring, training or integrating visually impaired employees, you cannot call yourself an inclusive workplace.
South African businesses should stop treating disability inclusion as a compliance checklist. Companies must:
Create an accessible recruitment pipeline for visually impaired candidates.
Train existing staff in ways to work with and support visually impaired colleagues.
Invest in affordable workplace changes and assistive technologies.
Register for a training program with disabilities.
“Disclaimer – the views and opinions expressed in this article are the views of the author and are not necessarily those of the Bee Room.”
