The article published in the Sunday Times on the 30 October 2022 with the heading: “To save Eskom, BEE rules must go — former MTN and Microsoft boss” - begs a response from the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE). 

 While we note that Mr. Mteto Nyati in no way suggests that Affirmative Action (AA) should be done away with to save the ailing Eskom or that it is the cause of the problems in Eskom, the CEE notes that the author of the article took the opportunity to take a position on Affirmative Action (AA) by using sentiments that have been articulated by Solidarity. 

Solidarity’s Chief Executive Dirk Hermann, said to have previously intimated that race-based transformation is responsible for Eskom’s downfall. This type of debate seems to suggest that competence is a race-based ‘born with gifts’. That could not be further from the truth. 

 Labour market transformation through Employment Equity seeks to transform organisations' demographic composition at all occupational levels.  

Nowhere in the Employment Equity Act (EEA) are employers encouraged to employ people from designated groups who do not meet the requirements of the roles they are appointed for. That is a narrative used by those who are against Affirmative Action as prescribed by the EEA. Where such appointments are made, the appointments sabotage the objectives of the EEA.  

If it is true that Eskom was reckless in the way it executed AA way back in 2002, then questions need to be asked as to how this can be remedied given that it implies that there is a huge cohort of employees that are incompetent in their roles. Certainly, doing away with AA would not be the solution. 

The problem would be 20-year-old recruitment and selection challenge and the question would then be: “Does Eskom not have Performance Management policies, procedures and processes?” Management would then be blamed for not doing their jobs. The EEA is very explicit that employers should give equal opportunities to suitably qualified individuals from the designated groups (black people, women and persons with disabilities) to promote equitable representative and diversified workforces that reflect the demographics of the economically active population.  In this regard, the CEE urges all employers to comply with the requirements of the EEA and stop using AA as a scapegoat for their inadequate or lack of substantive systemic strategic leadership, planning and management to create sustainable organisations. 

  

For more information, contact: 

Tabea Kabinde 

Chairperson: Commission for Employment Equity 

082 451 4761 / Tabea@wefindtalent.co.za