Stats SA has released an in-depth report on persons with disabilities. The report, written using Census 2011 data, is the first in a series of in-depth analyses of various Census 2011 variables, such as ageing and education.

The report provides statistical evidence relating to the prevalence of disability and characteristics of persons with disabilities at both individual and household levels. Two methods were used to profile disability prevalence and patterns based on the six functional domains, namely seeing, hearing, communication, remembering/concentrating, walking and self-care. These two methods were:

• the level/degree of difficulty in a specific functional domain and;
•  the disability index.

Both measures aim at providing an understanding of the characteristics of persons with disabilities.

The national disability prevalence rate is 7,5% in South Africa. Disability is more prevalent among females compared to males (8,3% and 6,5% respectively). Persons with disabilities increase with age. More than half (53,2%) of persons aged 85+ reported having a disability.

The prevalence of a specific type of disability shows that 11% of persons aged five years and older had seeing difficulties, 4,2% had cognitive difficulties (remembering/concentrating), 3,6% had hearing difficulties, and about 2% had communication, self-care and walking difficulties.

Persons with severe disabilities experience difficulty in accessing education and   employment opportunities.

Households headed by persons with disabilities were found to have less access to basic services compared to households headed by persons without disabilities. There were also disparities in terms of access to assistive devices across population groups and geography.

To download the full report, please click here.