The 26th Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) Annual Report provides an overview of employment equity trends and workplace transformation in South Africa, highlighting both progress made and areas that continue to require attention.

Presenting the key highlights of the report, The Department of Employment and Labour, Deputy Director for Employment Equity, Mr Masilo Lefika said the data provides an important picture of employment equity implementation across designated employers and the extent to which workplaces reflect the economically active population.

Lefika was speaking during the Employment Equity session in Pretoria held at Diep In Die Berg on 25 August 2026.

Lefika said that the report is based on information received from designated employers and employees covered during the 2025 reporting period. According to Mr Lefika, the number of reports received increased from 28 015 in 2023 to 29 269 in 2024, representing a 4.5% increase. However, the number declined significantly to 15 090 in 2025, a decrease of 48.4% due to the Employment Equity Amendments that exclude employers that employ 1-49 employees from reporting.

The number of employees covered by the reports also increased from 7.38 million in 2023 to 7.70 million in 2024, before declining to approximately 6.90 million in 2025.

The report also provides an assessment of the representation of employees with disabilities. In 2025, employees with disabilities accounted for 1.3% of the workforce across both the private sector and government. The presentation shows that representation differed across economic sectors, with electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply recording the highest representation at 2.6%, followed by information and communication at 2.1%.

Manufacturing recorded 1.9%, while transportation and storage stood at 1.8%. At the lower end, accommodation and food services, as well as arts, entertainment and recreation, recorded 0.8%.

Lefika emphasised that the findings underline the importance of continued implementation of employment equity measures to improve representation and participation across occupational levels, particularly in areas where disparities remain.

Furthermore, the stakeholders in attendance were informed that the report further shows representation at different occupational levels, including top management, senior management, professionally qualified, skilled technical, semi-skilled and unskilled levels. The data provides comparisons between population groups and gender, as well as between the private and government sectors.

At top management level, there is a continued differences in representation across population groups and between men and women. Similar patterns are reflected at senior management level, while the representation of women becomes more balanced at professionally qualified and skilled technical levels.

The 26th CEE Annual Report is available on the Department of Employment and Labour website.

The 2026 Employment Equity roadshows and workshops will continue with the next session scheduled for 27 August 2026 in Gauteng at Cedarwood in Sandton, and will close on 1 September 2026 in the Free State, at Kopano Nokeng Lodge in Bloemfontein.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Teboho Thejane

Departmental Spokesperson

082 697 0694/ teboho.thejane@labour.gov.za

-ENDS-

Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour

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