Minister of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi released his draft targets across 18 economic sectors and across all provinces. Picture: Patrick Mtolo, African News Agency (ANA)
THE DEPARTMENT of Employment and Labour has stuck to its guns over employment equity targets that have been published for public comment, despite a push-back by opposition parties.
The amended Employment Equity Act of 1998 empowers the Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, to set employment equity targets for economic sectors and prescribe demographic targets for employers with more than 50 employees in the form of five-year milestones towards achieving the equitable representation of the various groups in respective economic sectors.
Nxesi released his draft targets across 18 economic sectors and across all provinces, but has come under fire over, among others, the targets effectively “banning” the so-called coloured population group from employment in certain provinces, where employment targets are as low as 1%.
Lawyer Elton Rocherts explained that currently employers had an obligation to actively promote employees from designated groups and in order to achieve this they had to draw up EE plans in which employers would set out targets to achieve a more diverse workforce.
“It is currently left to the employer to come up with the plan that would recognise affirmative action as a measure to get marginalised employees into the workforce.
“Now quota is being imposed on the employer. It might be (that) government has seen that the pace at which transformation is taking place is a bit too slow, so now they are going to impose targets.
However, they might have to go back to the drawing board because they have come up with a race classification exercise that could further marginalise the so-called coloured community.”
Cape Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams said the impact of the “short-sighted decision” could put thousands of people out of work in coloured communities.
“Our contribution to the building of this country is forgotten. The fact that we have so much more to offer is just pushed aside.”
People Against Race Classification founder Glen Snyman, who has been lobbying Parliament for the removal of the term “coloured” from all official government and private institution documents, said a person's skin colour did not mean he or she represents a particular group.
“Race does not mean representivity. Citizens have a legal leg to stand on against these race-based quotas. The Population Registration Repeal Act of 1991 is still an active (in operation) act. This act abolishes the use of all race-based criteria and has never been repealed by Parliament. This act stands in direct contradiction/conflict with the EEA. I encourage all to tick the African box so that you are not being discriminated against.”
DA leader John Steenhuisen said: “The quotas seem especially targeted at the groups defined by the regulations as ‘coloured males,’ ‘coloured females,’ ‘Indian males’ and ‘Indian females.’
“People from these communities suffered discrimination under the previous regime, and now they are being re-victimised by a democratic government. In sectors like agriculture, forestry and fisheries, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, finance, arts, and science, the ‘targets’ set for coloured employees in provinces like Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West is 0.0%, effectively banning these groups from employment. Even in Gauteng.”
The Department of Employment and Labour said the DA “maliciously interpreted the proposed sector EE targets published for public comment”.
“The DA is using the same tactics of ‘divide and rule’ adopted during the apartheid regime, particularly in order to divide the black people of South Africa.
“For sustainable growth and development, it is important that workplaces reasonably reflect the national and provincial demographics of the economically active population of the country, both in the public and the private sectors as required by section 42 of the EE Act,” the department said.
“In fact, nothing has changed. These EE amendments are not introducing any new legal obligations on employers because for over 24 years of the EE Act, employers have been legally required to set their own EE targets taking into account both the national and provincial EAP demographics as per section 42 of the EE Act.”
It argued that the only change with the amendments was that the Nxesi had now regulated sector EE targets in the form of five-year milestones.
“Nevertheless, sector EE targets are not quotas as employers still maintain powers to determine their own annual EE targets towards achieving the regulated 5-year sector EE targets.”
* Comments can be submitted to innocent.makwarela@labour.gov.za christina.lehlokoa@labour.gov.za jullian.mohale@labour.gov.za