Employment Equity (EE) in South Africa is the foundation to achieve equality in the workplaces and in doing so the Department of Employment and Labour, the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) and the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) are to begin the annual national EE workshops/roadshows to engage with various stakeholders.

The 2026 EE workshops/roadshows will begin in July in the Kimberley, Northern Cape Province.

This year's workshops/roadshows will be held under the theme: “Bridging the Equity Gap Through Diversity & Inclusion". These will be held between the months of July and September 2026 across all nine provinces.

According to Department of Employment and Labour EE Deputy Director, Masilo Lefika said achieving equity is still an extended journey.

Lefika said the workshops formed part of the Department's ongoing efforts to promote compliance with employment equity legislation, advance workplace transformation, and foster inclusive workplaces that reflect the labour market of the country's diverse workforce.

Lefika said the focus of 2026 workshops is:

• Presentation on the Draft Amended Code of Good Practice on the preparation, implementation and monitoring of the EE Plan;
• Presentation on practical demonstration of how to utilise the EE System online facilities to capture EE Reports and request EE Certificate of Compliance;
• Presentation on sharing of all types of unfair discrimination cases by the CCMA; and
• Presentation on labour law amendments – Labour Relations Act (LRA), Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), Employment Equity Act (EEA), National Minimum Wage Act (NMWA)

This year's national EE workshops/roadshows come a year following the implementation of the Employment Equity Amendment Act, No 4 of 2022 which came into force on 1 January 2025. The new amendments and regulations introduced the setting of five-year sector EE targets, the enhancement of EE System, how to request EE Certificate of Compliance to be able to conduct business with the State.

The national series of workshops/roadshows start on 21 July 2026 ending on 01 September 2026, with venues to be confirmed. In addition to workshops, there will also be engagements conducted through Microsoft Teams for all stakeholders on 08 and 09 September 2026.

The schedule of 2026 national workshops are as follows:

Northern Cape

• Kimberley – Horseshoe Inn 101 Memorial Road, Royldene (21July 2026)

Limpopo  

• Polokwane – Meropa Casino 59 Prov Roodepoort Street, Ivy Park X14 (23 July 2026)

Mpumalanga

• Mbombela Khayalami Hotel 29 Van Wijk Street (28 July 2026)

North West

• Rustenburg – Orion Safari Hotel, 1 Donkerhoek Road (30 July 2026)

KwaZulu-Natal

• Durban (04 August 2026)
• Pietermaritzburg (06 August 2026)

Western Cape

• Cape Town (11 August 2026)

Eastern Cape

• KuGompo (18 August 2026)   
• Gqeberha (20 August 2026)

Gauteng

• Pretoria (25 August 2026) 
• Johannesburg (27 August 2026)

Free State

• Bloemfontein (01 September 2026)

The EE workshops are targeted at Employers or Heads of organisations, employees and trade unions, Assigned Senior EE Managers, Consultative EE forum members, Human Resource Managers and Practitioners, Academics, Civil society, and interested stakeholders.

NB: All the workshops will be held from 09:00 to 16:00 and members of the media are invited.

More information on the EE workshops, including updates on the venues to be used, will be available on department's and the CCMA's social media platform as well as the Department's website:  www.labour.gov.za

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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