ABSTRACT
The United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has transformed the discussion of disability globally and focused new attention on the human rights of disabled individuals in the global South. African nations have embraced the CRPD enthusiastically. Many scholars champion the CRPD as a watershed that will turn the tide towards increased disability rights around the world. Despite its embrace of social model perspectives, critics of the CRPD are not convinced that it will achieve its intended results. The CRPD might allow a minority of disabled person to enter the workforce, but it will do little if anything to change the system that keeps most disabled persons at the very bottom of the surplus labour pool. On the positive side, the CRPD has promoted much activity and helped to nurture expanding networks of disability activists that have had a real and positive impact.
