Employment and Labour Minister Thulasizwe Nxesi has expressed concern at the slow pace of workplace transformation and promised that the government will now be forced to resort to strict measures to ensure transformation in the workplace.
He said the amending of the Employment Equity Act will be fast-tracked.
The minister was speaking during his acceptance of the report and the register from the Commission for Employment Equity Chairperson Tabea Kabinde. The event was held at the Government Communication & Information System recently.
The 19th Commission for Employment Equity report titled “Transformation makes business sense” shows that at top management 65.5% of the positions were occupied by White people, followed by Africans at 15.1%, Indians at 9.7%, Coloureds at 5.3% and foreigners at 3.4%.
Nxesi reiterated that those who do not comply with the laws of the country must face the music. He further said non-compliance has forced the CEE, together with the Department of Employment and Labour to set the equity targets.
He said: “We are not just talking about a single solution, but a range of solutions to deal with problems in the economy and workplace.”
A critical area of Act amendment is the review of Section 53 that will require the issuing of an annual certificate of compliance to organisations doing business with the State and its organs.
In the report under review, men occupied 76.5% of the positions and women 23. 5%. Africans occupied 76% of the positions in government, while white people occupied 69.6% of the positions in the private sector. Men occupied 77.7% in the private sector, while women accounted for 22.3%.
Men occupied 67% in the public sector and Females 33.0%. People with disabilities make up 1.3% at top management level.
Kabinde said at a broad level, the trends continue to paint a picture of a slow, but steady pace of transformation, especially at the top four occupational levels. She said it was critical for the government and social partners to make transformation a shared objective.
“We expect that when employers are slow in transforming, worker activism will nudge the employers,” she said.
South Africa’s national economically active population by population and gender group shows that Africans constitute 78%, Coloureds 9.6%; Indians 2.7% and White people 9.0%.
The CEE is a statutory body established in terms of Section 28 of Employment Equity Act, No 55 of 1998.
The report also showed that transformation in terms of gender representation has also remained steady but slow.
Kabinde said the professionally qualified representation was interesting in than 40.2% of the positions were occupied by Africans, followed by white people at 37.4%, Indians at 9.4%, Coloureds at 10% and foreigners at 3.0%.
At a glance
• There was a 1.2% (320) increase in the number of reports received from 27 163 in 2017 to 27 485 in 2018;
• A total of 44% of reports received were from Gauteng, followed by 20.8% from Western Cape, 15.1% from KwaZulu-Natal and 5.6% from Mpumalanga;
• A total of 18% of the reports received were from manufacturing, followed by 13.4% from agriculture, 13.2% wholesale trade, 11.5% finance and business services and 9.8% from construction;
• A total of 27 485 reports were received covering 7 415 876 employees in 2018, with 95% of them received from the private sector.
Issued by the Department of Employment and Labour.
