Department of Employment and Labour's Employment Equity (EE) Director, Ntsoaki Mamashela said EE targets do not contravene legislation - instead are constitutional imperatives and milestones to help the labour market identify suitably qualified persons.  

Mamashela argued that: “Through the amendment EE Act of 2022, we are not setting quotas. We can not be in conflict with our own Act. We are careful not to put obstacles towards the advancement of transformation beneficiaries".

She was addressing an EE workshop held at the ETC Conference Centre in Gqeberha today.

Responding to the contentious issue of the repeal of Section 14 of the Employment Equity (Act) on voluntary compliance and the new insertion of Section 15(A) that empowers Employment and Labour Minister to set numerical targets, she said this was a result of intense public consultation following a Nedlac negotiation process. 

Mamashela said in May 2023, an invitation for 30-day public comments was issued on the setting of sector numerical EE targets, and this was followed in February 2024 followed by a further 90-day republishing for public comments.

“Transformation is an imperative. We are building a future for our children and generations to come. We do not want to build a future that resembles the painful past," she said.

Mamashela was speaking during the joint Department of Employment and Labour, the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE), and the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) national EE workshops/roadshows.

The 2025 EE workshops are 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 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 27 May 2025 at Anew Hotel, 1 Hilton Avenue in Pietermaritzburg. The workshop will be held from 09:00 am-14:00.

The schedule of the 2025 national workshops is as follows:

KwaZulu-Natal

·       Durban (29 May 2025) venue to be confirmed (TBC) 

Gauteng

·      Pretoria (03 June 2025) – venue (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, 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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