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Report shows a bleak picture of transformation, 20 years on

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Commission for Employment Equity Chairperson Tabea Kabinde handing over the commission’s report to Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant at Saint George Hotel in Irene, Pretoria. Picture: Msindisi Fengu
Commission for Employment Equity Chairperson Tabea Kabinde handing over the commission’s report to Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant at Saint George Hotel in Irene, Pretoria. Picture: Msindisi Fengu

Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant has decried South Africa’s continued lack of compliance with employment equity legislation.

The latest employment equity report shows a resounding lack of employment equity compliance, with the majority of offenders being companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Other major issues are whites still dominating top positions, Africans (blacks) not being promoted to higher positions while constantly being provided training, and an increasing employment of foreigners.

Oliphant told reporters on Thursday that she was disappointed that there were still non-complying employers.

“It is still clear that some employers don’t respect the Constitution of the country,” she said.

She said the Bill of Rights spoke against inequality and discrimination based on race, colour and gender.

Oliphant said her department was in the process of publishing amendments to the Employment Equity Act to enforce compliance.

Oliphant was speaking at a media briefing held ahead of the Commission for Employment Equity Indaba at Saint George Hotel in Irene, Pretoria, this morning.

The indaba – which included panelists from unions, businesses, the community, South African Human Rights Commission, Public Service Commission and the Commission on Gender Equity – discussed the successes and failures of the Employment Equity Act and made resolutions on the way forward.

Oliphant was given the 18th Commission for Employment Equity report by its chairperson Tabea Kabinde. The report painted a bleak picture of transformation in the country 20 years since the promulgation of the act.

At the Indaba, unions called for the banning of employers who don’t comply with Employment Equity while others called for more stringent measures to deal with non-complying employers.

Kabinde said, as part of dealing with lack of compliance, government had to promulgate the Employment Equity Act, including section 53, to ensure that an employment equity certificate of compliance is a condition or prerequisite for state contracts.

Currently, designated employers – those who employed 50 or more workers and made a specific turnover depending on their industry – were requested to comply or be fined if they had failed to do so.

Kabinde said the amendments would have to impose employment equity sector targets because self-imposed targets were not working.

She said the process of reporting employment equity figures was not thoroughly done and did not include voices from employees resulting in skewed one-sided reports.

The country needed to debate race, gender and stereotypes relating to these issues in the workplace, Kabinde said.

She said workplaces were a representation of where the country was in dealing with these issues.

Some of the glaring issues raised in the report include a lack of employment equity compliance, with the majority being companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, whites still dominating top positions, Africans (blacks) not being promoted to higher positions while constantly provided training, and the increasing employment of foreigners.

According to reported submissions made by employers, 27 163 submissions were made in 2017 compared to 26 255 in 2016.

A total of 95% of the 2017 reports submitted were made by the private sector covering 5.3 million employees.


Sectors

The breakdown of sectors that reported is as follows:

Manufacturing 18.5%; Wholesale trade 13%; Agriculture 12.8%; Finance and business services 11.4% ; and Construction 10%.

Provinces

In terms of reports submitted by provinces, Gauteng stand at 44.8% ; Western Cape at 20.3%; KwaZulu-Natal 14.8%; Mpumalanga at 5.5%;Eastern Cape at 5.3%; Limpopo at 2.8%; Free State at 2.7%; North West at 2.4%; and Northern Cape at 1.4%.

Race

In terms of race, 67.7% top management positions are occupied by whites, African (blacks) at 14.3%; 9.4% Indians, 5.1% Coloureds, and 3.4% foreign nationals.

Gender

In this category, males occupy 77.1% of the positions with females in 22.9%.

State vs Private

Africans occupy 72.2% of top management positions in government while 71.1% of these jobs in the private sector are occupied by whites.

In government, males occupy 67.4% of these positions while females stand at 32.6%.

In the private sector, males occupy 78.4% of top management positions while females stand at 21.6%.

Persons with disabilities constitute 1.3% at top management, the report stated.

Senior management

With regard to senior management positions, 56.1% of these are occupied by Whites, followed by Africans at 22.1%, Indians at 10.9%, Coloureds at 7% and foreign nationals at 3.2%.

Professionals

In the professional qualified category, Africans occupy 42.2%, Whites 36.5%, Coloureds 9.6% and foreign nationals 2.9%.

Technical

In technical skills, Africans occupy 61.7%, Whites 19.6%, Coloureds 11.3%, Indian 5.6% and foreign nationals 1.7%.

Semi-skilled

Semi-skilled positions comprise of Africans 76.8%, Coloureds 12.1%, Whites 5.9%, Indians 2.9% and foreign nationals 2.4%.

Unskilled

While the unskilled positions were held by Africans 83.5%, Coloureds 11.1%, foreign nationals 3.5% and Whites 1.1%.

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