Deputy Minister Ms Boitumelo Moloi

Speaker, Ethekwini Municipality, Cllr Thabani Nyawose

Members of Parliament and Provincial Legislature present

Councillors

DG Thobile Lamati

Senior officials of National, Provincial and Local Government, and entities

Community members

Good morning and welcome colleagues and comrades. 

We are here at Chatsworth today to engage on the Employment Equity Act Amendments as presented by Mr Mkhalipi. We have listened to you and would like to consider your inputs as we consider our draft Regulations in terms of this Act. 

The colonial apartheid past of injustices including separate development and job reservation, continue to haunt South Africa in subtle ways. It's still a long walk to total emancipation.

As we celebrate the consolidation of 30 years of our democracy and over 24 years of the Employment Equity Act, 1998 (EEA), we should still recognise the injustices of our past, and honour those who fought and suffered for justice, equality and freedom in our land, including respecting those that work hard building and developing the economy of our country.

After 24 years since the inception of the EEA, the pace of economic transformation remains at a snail's pace as confirmed by the recent 2022/2023 EE Annual Report (23^rd Commission for Employment Equity Annual Report) released on 23 June 2023.  In fact, the 23^rd CEE Annual Report indicates that the South African labour market continues to be racialized and gendered.  

It is very clear in this 23^rd CEE Annual Report that the labour market still remains hierarchical with Whites occupying decision-making positions and Black people (i.e. Africans, Coloureds and Indians); women, in particular black women; and persons with disabilities largely concentrated at the lower occupational levels of the workforce. 

This 'deep-hole' syndrome is very apparent from the 2022 EE reports received from designated employers, whereby “things get darker as you go deeper".  Therefore, as one goes to lower occupational levels, the percentages are reversed and one sees higher percentages of the representation of black people, in particular Africans, Indians and Coloureds. The percentages of women and persons with disabilities also increased at the lower occupational end of the labour market.  This has been a disturbing pattern over the 24 years of the EEA. 

This report reflects that, relative to the demographics of the Economically Active Population (EAP) as released quarterly by Statistics South Africa, marginal progress in relation to the equitable representation of the designated groups, in particular, Africans, Coloureds, Indians and persons with disabilities have been made in the middle-to-upper occupational levels of the workforce.  

For example, the White population group are over-represented across all economic sectors at top management level.  In some key economic sectors, the representation of Whites at top management is at 83.1% in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; 73,1% in Accommodation and Food services; 71.2% in Real Estate; 68.9% in the Wholesale and Retail trade; 66% in Manufacturing; 59.3% in Finance and Insurance activities; and 55.6% in Mining and Quarrying. 

At senior management level in some key economic sectors, the representation of Whites is observed at 74.9% in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; 57.2% in Real Estate; 56.5% in Manufacturing; 53.5% in Mining and Quarrying; 52.3% in the Wholesale and Retail trade; 49.9% in Accommodation and Food services; and 47.2% in Finance and Insurance activities.

In terms of the overall representation of women, they only accounted for 26.5% and 37.2% of all positions at top and senior management levels respectively as reported by all the designated employers at these two upper echelons of the workforce. Notwithstanding the fact that there has been a favourable increase in the representation of females in the lower-to-middle occupational levels, this has not translated into meaningful gains, particularly at the senior management and top management levels of the labour market.

Furthermore, it is disconcerting that when shifting focus on the representation of persons with disabilities, their representation remains unchanged at approximately 1% in both the public and private sectors over the 24 years of the EEA.  Employers are urged to utilise the available EE policy tools such as the Code of Good Practice on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities, and its Technical Assistance Guidelines, to facilitate access to equal opportunities and employment of persons with disabilities in the various workplaces. 

It is significant to highlight that it is against this backdrop of this slow pace of transformation, that it became prudent for Government to explore other policy interventions to expedite the economic transformation of the labour market. The EE Amendments were therefore, introduced as a catalyst to facilitate change and promote equity in order to create an inclusive and sustainable economy for all.

Whilst there are naysayers who continue to confuse and distort the rationale of our policy directive, we call upon all citizens who have an interest in the matter to participate in our national road shows, as we seek their inputs in an attempt to fast-track transformation of the economic landscape of our country. 

I am happy that in today's presentations and discussions, we have clarified the confusion and hope that Chatsworth and surrounding community leaders and everyone will be the voice of reason as these discussions pursue and more education on the need for transformation in our country.

Thank you

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