Deputy Minister defends Employment Equity Act

THE Employment Equity Act (EEA) was not introduced to create racial divides or quotas as alleged, and these narratives, which have been mainly driven by the DA, cannot go unchallenged, says Employment and Labour Deputy Minister Judith Nemadzinga-Tshabalala.

Among the reasons government had to intervene was because of the slow pace of transformation, particularly in the private sector, which may be attributed to self-regulation by employers.

“It is acknowledged that the slow pace of transformation is attributed to self-regulation of EE targets by the designated employers. As a result of self-regulation, the employers had all the powers in the 27 years of the EEA to set low meaningless EE targets, which they were able to recycle from one year to another or change at their discretion with no will and commitment to transform their workplaces,” said Nemadzinga-Tshabalala.

The deputy minister this week led a delegation from the department to brief the Portfolio Committee on the advancement of Employment Equity in South Africa.

The department explained the amendments of the EEA, draw their genesis in 2019, when the Department and Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) initiated sector engagements with the intention of the setting of sector EE targets to give impetus to workplace transformation. The Employment Equity Amendment Act No. 4 of 2022, came into effect on 1 January 2025. 

The department said employers should be reviewing their reports for submissions and must therefore use the Amended EEA legislation to comply with the reporting requirements.

Last week, the DA argued before the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, that amendments to the EEA were replacing a context-sensitive approach where employers set their numerical targets for employment equity, with a rigid, one-size-fits-all system of minister-determined targets.

The DA said this violates Section 9 of the Constitution, which governs equality and affirmative action. While Section 9(2) permits affirmative action, it must be approached cautiously and not unduly infringe on dignity or establish absolute barriers, the party said.

The deputy minister outlined the importance of understanding that the EEA was not introduced to create racial divides or quotas as alleged - the purpose of the EEA is to achieve equality and equity in the workplace by promoting equal opportunities and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination. 

In addition, the EEA aims to implement affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups (black people; women; and persons with disabilities) to ensure equitable representation in all occupational levels in the workforce.

“The false narrative that the Government wants to take away jobs from the coloured and Indian population is a falsehood that must not go unchallenged. This is deliberately designed to create division within the country,” said Nemadzinga-Tshabalala.

Committee chairperson, Boyce Maneli emphasised the importance of redress to address the imbalances of the past, which were legislated and continue to linger, despite Government’s efforts aimed at transformation.

“If you do not use the tools available at the disposal of the state to implement transformation, you will have a situation where people take matters into their own hands. Discrimination was legislated; therefore, you cannot leave the laws without redressing them,” said Maneli.

Nemadzinga-Tshabalala emphasised the need of the government to work with great speed to monitor the implementation of the various legislation.

“In light of all these challenges, Government cannot be expected to fold hands and allow the situation to be ‘business as usual’ when majority of our people are still being unfairly discriminated against and denied access to equal opportunities of employment due to their race, gender or their disability,” said Nemadzinga-Tshabalala.

Cape Times