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The Association for the Physically Disabled in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa (APD NMB), was established 84 years ago. This organisation has evolved into a remarkable force for inclusive employment, practical skills training and socioeconomic empowerment, not through speeches or symbolic campaigns, but through real, structured, everyday work.
In a country where an estimated 90% of people with disabilities remain unemployed, APD NMB did not wring its hands or wait for policy to catch up. Instead, it built systems that work. Factories, training programmes, partnerships with corporates, recruitment pipelines and follow-through support. While others continue discussing the theory of inclusion, APD NMB is busy implementing it.
The word charity may immediately come to mind but this is not their story. What is it, you might ask. It’s about empowerment, precision, systems, standards and a deeply held belief that opportunity should not be rationed based on physical ability.
The model is elegantly robust: one arm is non-profit, offering training and support services; the other is a fully operational commercial business, a competitive clothing factory producing uniforms, protective wear and branded garments for major corporate clients. These two work together. The business generates income and jobs. The non-profit supports, trains and equips. Together, they form a cohesive engine that drives real progress.
What sets APD NMB apart is the intentionality in how learners are prepared. The organisation does not train individuals and release them into a job market with limited capacity. It builds direct pathways to employment often identifying opportunities before the training even begins. A learner entering APD NMB’s flagship sewing programme is taught how to operate a machine but they also learn how to manage their time, conduct themselves in a workplace and handle a pay cheque. They learn how to contribute to a team and adapt to production targets. They learn real life lessons that allow them to function confidently in society and make a meaningful contribution to their communities.
“We feel that we cannot give a person a skill if we don’t give them life skills as well” says Gemma Ebersohn, APD NMB’s Resource Development Manager.
Clinton Kay-Clark, a consultant overseeing the manufacturing strategy, brings with him over three decades of industry expertise. His insights into production efficiency, quality control and workforce development have helped position APD NMB’s factory as a respected player in the industry and he can attest to the business case for hiring people with disabilities. “As soon as you give somebody a skill, their whole life changes. They feel like they’re contributing to a greater good,” he said. “What we found was that… people with disabilities were actually probably one of the most productive people that you could have in the business.” APD NMB’s programs should not be perceived as a shelter workshop. It is a business with standards and clients. One that happens to be driven by people society has too often overlooked.
Among the most compelling stories to emerge from the organisation is that of Chenenvor Saays, a young man from one of the country’s most disadvantaged communities, living with an intellectual disability. Initially enrolled in APD’s adult daycare programme, it was his quiet curiosity around the branding department that sparked a shift. He began watching the team as they operated screen-printing machinery. In time, he was given the opportunity to try. His strength? The ability to focus on a single task with extraordinary accuracy. That same quality, once viewed as a limitation, has now made him one of the factory’s most dependable screen printers.
Today, he holds full-time employment, earns a salary, contributes to his household, and represents something that’s harder to quantify: a shift in possibility for his peers and his community. His success has inspired others to step forward and apply, changing not only individual lives but altering the expectations of what is possible in the environments they come from.
This idea of cascading impact is central to APD NMB’s model. Learners are not treated as temporary participants. The organisation stays connected, following their progress long after employment, maintaining relationships with employers and offering support when needed. Employers are not left to figure things out alone; they are engaged through workshops, accessibility audits and sensitization training. One such initiative, Wheelchair Wednesday, puts corporate participants in a wheelchair for 67 minutes — a nod to Nelson Mandela’s legacy — offering firsthand experience of the barriers faced by persons with disabilities. It’s not theatrical. It’s transformative.
And it’s catching on. Retail chains like Checkers have worked closely with APD NMB to upskill individuals with disabilities for roles in customer service, administration and retail operations, not just backroom roles, but front-facing, visible jobs that challenge old assumptions. These partnerships don’t end at graduation. Employers often report back months later, noting that the learners they hired are now excelling, leading teams, or relocating for promotions.
The success rate speaks for itself. Over 80% of APD’s graduates find employment or start their own ventures. But behind the numbers is a methodology: training that includes digital literacy, budgeting, hygiene, time management, workplace communication, emotional intelligence and self-confidence. In short, learners do not leave with skills only. They leave equipped for life.
The intake process is equally thoughtful. Rather than apply a one-size-fits-all approach, the team evaluates each applicant’s abilities, environment, and needs. If someone is not a fit for one programme, they are often directed to another more suitable option. Exclusion is never the organisation’s default response. Redirection is.
It would be tempting to call the APD NMB model a blueprint for inclusive development. But even that feels too generic. It is more exacting than a blueprint. It is a well-calibrated system of parts: people, knowledge, patience, infrastructure, relationships and grit. It works because every piece matters. From social workers to trainers, from factory managers to fundraisers, every team member is aligned to a clear purpose.
Asked what legacy APD NMB hopes to leave behind, the response is deeply personal. It’s not about institutional reputation. It’s about individuals — people who come into the building unsure of themselves, and leave with their heads held higher, with the confidence to stand on their own, to contribute, to matter.
This is not an ordinary success story. It is the outcome of discipline, structure and deep conviction. And perhaps most importantly, it is proof that real inclusion — the kind that changes lives — is not just possible. It is already happening.
APD NMB simply chose to stop talking and start doing.
Gemma Ebersohn, APD NMB’s Resource Development Manager, plays a pivotal role in shaping the organisation’s future. She not only secures vital funding and drives the implementation of learnerships but also oversees recruitment and sensitization initiatives. Her strategic focus and deep commitment have been instrumental in building APD’s blended model — one that merges social impact with commercial viability.
Clinton, a seasoned consultant with over 30 years in the clothing manufacturing industry, brings technical expertise and strategic vision to APD’s commercial operations. His guidance has been central to developing the organisation’s new factory and scaling its production capabilities, ensuring that APD NMB’s learners are not only trained but integrated into a competitive, high-performing industry environment.
Interview with APD Nelson Mandela Bay’s Gemma Ebersohn, Resource Development Manager and Clinton Kay Clark, Consultant.
Gemma Ebersohn, the organisation’s Resource Development Manager, leads the charge in securing funding, implementing learnerships and expanding outreach through recruitment and sensitization initiatives. Her strategic direction has helped transform APD’s blended model into a self-sustaining force for good. Alongside her is Clinton Kay Clark, a seasoned consultant with over 30 years in the clothing manufacturing industry. Clinton brings a wealth of technical knowledge and a passion for community empowerment, playing a key role in establishing APD NMB’s new apparel factory and ensuring it operates with commercial excellence. Together, they provided detailed insight into APD NMB’s model, its impact, and its vision during a conversation with Accessibility for All magazine. Here is what they had to say.
1. Why Inclusion Matters
Why is inclusive employment such a central focus for APD Nelson Mandela Bay, and what does it mean in the South African context today?
We’ve been operating for the past 84 years. We’ve tried and tested solutions during this time as to how to accommodate, train and employ persons with disabilities thus placing us as leaders in the Non-Profit Organization (NPO) sector for persons with disabiities in our province.
South Africa has approximately 7.5% persons with disabiities with an estimated 90% being unemployed. Our central focus is to remove the stigmatism attached to disability by changing the mindset of society and making the unemployed employable, enforcing equality and inclusion in our continued mission to empower persons with disabilities. To incorporate a vast variety of disabilities, we collaborate with other NPO’s specializing in specific disabilities, encompassing both physical and intellectual disabilities within our services.
2. From Training to Employment
Your learnerships are highly effective, with over 85% of graduates employed or starting their own businesses. What key strategies ensure that these programs lead to real, long-term employment outcomes?
APD Nelson Mandela Bay operates on a blended model of NPO and commercial business. This balance enables one component to compliment the other resulting in high beneficiary success rates. We complete the full circle for each individual while ensuring the sustainability of our organisation.
Our training model is comprised of core skills, fundamentals and technical skills. Learners complete a 3 month training program within our factory environment, thereafter they progress onto a production line where they develop the quality and speed required for employment. Once they meet the required standards within a six-month period, leaners are offered permanent employment positions within our newly developed manufacturing factory.
3. A New Factory for New Futures
With the launch of your new Apparel Manufacturing Factory in 2025, how will this facility support employment equity and job creation specifically for persons with disabilities?
The new factory will create 500 jobs within the next 3 years, with at least 50% being persons with disabilities.
We seek young people with and without disabilities who have fallen out of the education system and those who have limited opportunities to move forward in life.
We collaborate with special schools and youth centres where we identify and source those most in need of our opportunities.
APD leads by example, promoting inclusive employment for all under our own sustainable business that supports the objectives activities and outcomes of our organization.
We now have the expertise of a retail industry expert Clinton Kay Clark. He has extensive experience in the industry having been an asset to leading International retailers. Clinton joined us to offer his knowledge and experience to ensure our new factory becomes successful, sustainable and because he believes in our vision to change the mindset of society to enforce the inclusivity of persons with disabilities into employment.
4. Real-World Integration
How do you prepare learners not only with technical skills, but also for the realities of working in mainstream or competitive environments?
In addition to the technical skills to compete in the retail industry, our learners need to compete on speed and quality. Our training methods are adapted to ensure persons with disabilities learn to adapt, change and move forward to meet the expectations of the industry.
A sustainable livelihood will not be achieved with technical skills alone. Personal development is incorporated into all of our programs to instill the life skills required to increase confidence, self-esteem, independence, interpersonal skills and digital advancement. The program is compiled of the modules below which are supported by APD’s partnerships with industry professionals.
Core program modules:
Emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-control, establishing personal identity, independence, dealing with emotions, empathy and compassion.
Self-Motivation: self-confidence, effective communication, projecting future goals and aspirations
Daily life Skills: health and personal hygiene, social skills, cookery and maintaining your home
Work readiness: Interview skills, compiling a CV, time management and organisational skills, adhering to work place codes of conduct.
Money management: budgeting, banking, policies, making financial decisions (needs versus wants)
Digital skills: internet browsing, security and virus protection, online communication, safe transacting
5. Breaking Employer Bias
Many businesses are hesitant to hire people with disabilities due to misconceptions. How does APD work with employers to change perceptions and open doors to inclusive hiring?
This ongoing challenge can only be diminished by us proving to prospective employers that our learners with disabilities are just as capable and competent as anyone without a disability.
We are providing the skills set to our learners and the education of the corporate industry with regards to disability awareness ensuring that a potential employer is not deterred by a person’s disability but is encouraged and enthusiastic to allow that person to prove they are a fully eligible candidate for their employment position.
6. Sustained Employment
Employment is more than a job—it’s about sustainability and dignity. How does APD ensure ongoing support for employees with disabilities after they’ve entered the workforce?
We pride ourselves on educating the private and public sectors in awareness, accessibility and sensitization. We offer a service to any business or organization to assist them in providing reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities.
We provide social work support on an ongoing basis for all persons with disabilities who is enrolled or employed at APD to actively address any concerns raised.
7. Policy, Practice, and Progress
From your perspective, are South Africa’s current employment policies doing enough to promote inclusion? What changes would you like to see?
South Africa has a policy in place that states all employers must accommodate 2% of persons with disabilities within their workforce, however it is estimated that 90% of them are still unemployed. Unfortunately, the practice of the policy is not in place.
We do believe that this is being actively addressed within government departments and we hope for change soon.
8. Impact in Action
Can you share a story that perfectly illustrates how inclusive employment has transformed someone’s life and rippled through their family or community?
Chenenvor Saays
Chenenvor is an intellectually challenged young man residing in the heavily poverty stricken and gang influenced Northern Areas of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole. He was enrolled in APD’s Adult Day Care Centre to protect him from exposure to day to day dangers within his community. He developed a keen interest in the branding department of APD where he would observe and ask questions in relation to the machinery and products. The Branding department manager suggested that we offer him an opportunity to train in the department. He excelled in his training. Chenenvor today is a silk screen printer operator in APD’s branding department with a meticulous eye for detail and quality.
9. Innovation in Non-Profit Employment Models
APD is one of the few NPOs running a full-scale manufacturing business. What advice would you give to other organisations hoping to create similar employment ecosystems?
Identify your strength and your flagship activity, focus on getting the basics right in that one area to perfect it and ensure that you lead in that core objective.
Balance your business and NPO by changing the mindset of your team to collectively work towards the same goal. Employ key managerial strategies to utilize the team to its strengths and to work as one driving force.
10. Your Leadership Vision
As a leader in this space, what drives your passion for inclusive employment, and what legacy would you like APD to leave in terms of workplace inclusion?
There is no greater strength than the belief in oneself and at APD we instill that belief, confidence and self-esteem back into individuals who lost it due to their circumstances and life’s journey. Our legacy is to prove that when faced with adversity, you have the inner strength to overcome anything, do anything and become successful in anything you want to do.
Together we are an unstoppable force that drives the empowerment of people with disabilities.
Visit www.apdnmb.org.za for more