• Companies across all sizes, sectors, and locations increasingly understand that improving their disability performance in customer experience, talent acquisition, employee engagement and wellbeing, technology and ESG is both ethical and good for business
• A National Business and Disability Network (NBDN) provides a supportive, employer-led, Peer to Peer Learning, B2B Exchange, country-level platform that helps the private sector to deliver the business improvements that also benefit persons with disabilities
• Our goal is to create the Business Disability Network South African (BDN SA), which enables its private sector members to define, deliver and benchmark the best practice that benefits business and people with disabilities while driving economic growth and inclusive communities
• BDN SA will join the global community of Business & Disability Organisations supported by the ILO Global Business and Disability Network (ILO GBDN), promoting the sharing and adoption of good practice, while mobilising the collective influence of South African businesses to the benefit of the economy and people with disabilities

• There is broad agreement across the SA business community that the current SA regulatory scorecard system and resulting compliance-focused ‘common practice’ does not generate business value. The system’s unintended consequences include positioning disabled talent as ‘regulatory burden’’; while undermining the business & ethical case for corporate best practice – failing disabled people and businesses
• We see a widely felt need for cost-effective, authoritative, business-relevant resources and support, which enable corporations as employers and service providers to define and deliver best practice – no one wants to waste resources reinventing any wheels
• And growing recognition of the business benefits and competitive advantage that flow from improving the experience of disabled and older customers as companies remove digital, physical, and attitudinal barriers, which in turn removes barriers for disabled talent 

The Business Disability Network will be truly business-led, grounded in the reality and needs of business. 

We will operate in the new  ‘Business & Disability’ domain, NOT the disability sector.

The ROI for network members is multilayered as they achieve a range of commercial and ESG objectives

Where the needs of business & the aspirations of people with disabilities coincide  

Amongst the thousands of companies which have joined more than 40 business disability networks worldwide, be they globally at ILOGBDN or in Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Switzerland, China, NZ,  Brazil Uganda, Canada….. the benefits manifest as follows:

1. On an ecosystemic level:

We will bring members together to change systems, leveraging the collective influence of our member companies as they encourage:

• More efficient, accessible and fair job markets
• More realistic and positive portrayal of people with disabilities in advertising, broadcasting, theatre, social media etc.
• Investments in partnerships that liberate leadership and innovation in both the private sector and the disability community
• Public policies which make it easier for people with a disability to acquire the skills employers require and to move into member talent pipelines
• Accessible transport, which enables member companies to recruit and retain disabled talent

2. On a membership level:

We offer our members the uniquely cost -effective opportunity to deliver the business improvements that also benefit people with disabilities  as they realise:

• Enhanced productivity, employee engagement,
• Enhanced talent acquisition as they enable a much wider pool of talent  to contribute on an equal basis
• Enhanced customer experience and brand reputation
• Improved new product development processes
• Reduced legal, operational and reputation risks
• Technological innovation by ensuring technology liberates everyone’s contribution and experience

3. We enable our members to demonstrably improve how they include, enable, and partner with disabled people. Indicators include:

• Year-on-year improvement in corporate disability performance (ILO GBDN Self-Assessment)
• Year-on-year improvement in digital accessibility (Accessible Technology Maturity Model)
• Growth in members establishing or strengthening Disabled Employee Networks / ERGs (PurpleSpace)
• Increased partnerships with Organisations of Disabled People and disabled entrepreneurs, advocates, and suppliers.

4. The network will enable business leadership to drive systemic change and shift the narrative. Indicators include:

• Depth of engagement with senior business leaders (champions, advisors, ambassadors, board members)
• Member participation in public policy and regulatory engagement
• Business discourse shifting from “cost, deficit, medical” to “investment in human potential, mutual benefit, human rights”

The Business Disability Network SA will:

• Leverage the collective influence of its member companies on government & civil society – as potential allies of people with disabilities, helping to build a disability confident national ecosystem
• Routinely enable people in the private sector to learn directly from people with disabilities
• Shape more efficient job markets which enable employer access to the widest possible talent pool, as job markets begin to meet the needs of both employers and disabled job seekers, while enabling employers to retain employees who acquire their disabilities while in work
• Draw on internationally recognised business best practice and resources, tailored as needed for local business, to include the ILO GBDN Self-Assessment: the Global benchmark and from Business Disability International
• Learn from a growing global network of Business and Disability Networks to jointly problem solve and measure impact
• Nurture a ‘safe but challenging’ community of businesses wanting to improve their disability performance as employers, providers of goods and services and as responsible corporate citizens

• Setup costs are needed to ensure we launch with the right dedicated team and structure and quickly build our capacity to add value, as we do what has never been done before in SA
• Bradshaw LeRoux, a social enterprise working to benefit both business and people with a disability, will, as a co-founder with Business Disability International, lead and incubate the 3-year startup process that establishes and promotes the vision, mission and membership offerings until the network is sustainable through membership fees
• A small dedicated team, including a Founder/CEO, must be employed to quickly provide the business-relevant enabling products and services that add such value that they justify the membership fee
• Members must gain privileged access to resources and value, to provide the incentive to join, while the Business Disability Network delivers the high-profile communications strategy, which inspires wider employer engagement
• Our aim is to bring in R600 000 from members in year 1

It is much more cost-effective to jointly fund a central resource than for each company to try to define and deliver best practice working in isolation.

Agreeing the first 2–3-year Business Plan and Business Model

• Create a Business Advisory Group of 8 to 10 business leaders who are excited to help with start-up, and who bring expertise and resources in i.e. marketing, communication, customer experience, property and facilities management, technology, HR, innovation and business startups… to represent all areas of business that the network is designed to serve.

The Business Advisory Group, acting as a sounding board to help shape a Business & Communications Plan, which specifies:

• The range of enabling products, services, learning, and networking opportunities to be offered
• Explicit member ‘value for money’ proposition for joining the BDN, which, because it goes beyond mere legal compliance, delivers real business value
• Target members – from local and global organisations that have a significant presence in SA
• The Startup Sustainable Business Model: planning for member fees to cover core staffing costs within 3 years
• Member pricing strategy, including membership fee levels and additional sponsorship policy framework
• The 3-year start-up budget – income targets & sources

Sponsored by GIZ, Held at Radisson Collection on 27 March 2026

• The BDN SA Kick-Off Event, sponsored by GIZ, convened senior business leaders to formally launch South Africa’s first dedicated, business-led Business Disability Network dedicated to driving economic growth for all, where the needs of business and the aspirations of people with a disability coincide
• The programme opened with a global perspective, welcoming BDN SA into the international community of National Business Disability Networks and highlighting how such networks drive tangible business value. Insights underscored the role of these networks in enabling organisations to adopt best practices, strengthen their disability performance whilst better meeting the needs of their clients, employees and communities
• The event also introduced BDN SA’s ambitious three-year start-up plan, focused on delivering practical outcomes. Key priorities include supporting businesses to better serve disabled customers, leveraging employee insights, shaping more accessible labour markets, and proactively addressing the impact of artificial intelligence on workforce development and talent pipelines
• Business leaders at the highest level reinforced a clear and urgent message: the time for innovation is now. BDN SA is positioned as a catalyst to harness the collective experience and influence of South African businesses, leveraging a proven, business-led model to drive shared value for companies, people with disabilities, and the broader economy