The repeal of Section 14 of the Employment Equity EE (Act) on voluntary compliance and the new insertion of section 15A were not a 'thumb suck', but a result of wide consultation process with various sectors, Department of Employment and Labour EE Director, Ntsoaki Mamashela told an EE workshop.

Addressing an EE workshop at East London International Convention Centre today, she said that the provision in the Act that allows for the setting of five-year sector EE targets was a result of an extensive consultation process started in 2018 at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac). Mamashela said this was followed by a sector-wide consultative process.

“We have had more than enough engagement and consultation on the setting of sector numerical EE targets with various sector stakeholders, including through the publication of two sets of Draft EE Regulations on proposed sector EE targets for public comment in May 2023 and February 2024, respectively."

“Let us give sector targets a chance to be implemented, and after five years we will review progress," Mamashela said.

Mamashela was speaking during the start of the Department of Employment and Labour, the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE), and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) national workshops/roadshows to engage with various stakeholders in the labour market on the implementation of the new legislation and its regulations.

Following the EE Amendment Act - Section 15(A) empowers the Employment and Labour Minister to set numerical targets. The Minister may, after consulting the relevant sectors and with the advice of the CEE, for the purpose of ensuring the equitable representation of suitably qualified people from the designated groups at all occupational levels in the workforce, by notice in the Gazette set numerical targets for any national economic sector identified in terms of subsection (1).

In another development, the 2025 CEE Annual Report shows that at Top Management, the White population representation at 61.1% is approximately 8 times their Economically Active Population (EAP), and the Indian population representation at 11.9% is more than 4 times their EAP at the Top Management level. In contrast, said the report, the African population representation is at 18.0%, which is approximately 4 times below their EAP, and the Coloured population representation at 6.2% is below their EAP at this occupational level. Foreign National representation stands at 2.8% at this occupational level. Employees with disabilities only make up 1.9% of the representation at the Top Management level.

The CEE Report concludes that the lack of equitable representation at the Top Management level does not bode well for the future sustainable economic growth of the country and the representation of the demographic population distribution in the workplace in terms of population groups, gender, and disability.

The Report said that at the Senior Management level, the picture remains appalling for the Africans, with the White and Indian Population representation remaining significantly higher than their EAP. At the Professionally Qualified level, Africans are the only population group that is below their EAP at this level. At the Skilled technical level, the Africans remain the only population group that is below their EAP. At the two lower levels, i.e., at the Semi-Skilled and Unskilled levels, the representation of the White and Indian Population groups is below their EAP. The representation of persons with disabilities still hovers around 1% of the total workforce, and their representation remains low at all six occupational levels.

The 2025 EE workshops will be held under the theme: “Bridging the Equity Gap Through Diversity & Inclusion".

This year's workshops will focus on:

·          How to implement the EE Amendments contained in the EE Amendment Act, 2022, and its EE Regulations

·          Five-year Sector EE targets for 18 economic sectors;

·          Practical demonstration of how to utilise the EE system online facilities to capture EE reports and request the EE Certificate of Compliance; and

·          Presentation on discrimination disputes referred to the CCMA and the various Courts, in particular, harassment cases, including dispute resolution mechanisms in terms of the EEA.  

The next workshop will be held on 22 May 2025 at the ETC Conference Centre at Spondo Street, Struandale in Gqeberha. It will be held from 09:00 am-14:00.

The schedule of 2025 national workshops is as follows:

KwaZulu-Natal

·       Pietermaritzburg (27 May 2025) at Anew Hotel Hilton, 1 Hilton Avenue

·       Durban (29 May 2025) at Olive Convention Centre, 81 Somtseu Road

Gauteng

·      Pretoria (03 June 2025) – venue to be confirmed (TBC)

Johannesburg (04 June 2025) – venue (TBC)

West Rand / Vaal (05 June 20205) - venue (TBC)

Mpumalanga

·       Nelspruit (10 June 2025) - venue (TBC)

·       Witbank (Emalahleni) - (12 June 2025) - venue (TBC)

North West

·       Klerksdorp (10 June 2025) - venue (TBC)

·       Rustenburg (12 June 2025) - venue (TBC)

Free State

·       Welkom (18 June 2025) - venue (TBC)

·       Bloemfontein (19 June 2025) - venue (TBC)

Northern Cape

·          Kimberley (18 June 2025) - venue (TBC)

Western Cape

·       George (24 June 2025) – venue (TBC)

·       Cape Town (25 June 2025) – venue (TBC)

Limpopo  

·       Thohoyandou (24 June 2025) – venue (TBC)

·       Polokwane (25 June 2025) – venue (TBC)

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.

More information on the EE workshops, including updates on the venues to be used, will be available on the department's and the CCMA's social media platforms, 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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