One of the key outcomes of the Employment Equity (EE) Amendment Act, No. 4 of 2022, and the release of two sets of Employment Equity Regulations is that the new updated reporting system will no longer close, to allow employers to access the EE Certificate of Compliance, said Department of Employment and Labour EE Directorate Practitioner, Christina Lehlokoa.

According to Lehlokoa, with the new amendments in legislation, employers will be able to log into the system and access the EE Compliance system throughout the year. She, however, cautioned that the reporting feature of the system will continue to open and close during the cut-off date.

The EE reporting season annually opens on 1 September for both manual and online reporting. In terms of reporting timeframes, the manual reporting closes in October and the online reporting closes on 15 January.

Lehlokoa was today (12 June) presenting on practical demonstration of how to utilize the EE System online facilities to capture EE reports and request an EE Certificate of Compliance – during an EE workshop held at King's Palace Hotel & Conference Centre in Rustenburg.

The workshop is part of a national roadshow held under the theme: “Bridging the Equity Gap Through Diversity & Inclusion". 

The Department of Employment and Labour is conducting the EE workshops in partnership with the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) and the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). The national workshops/roadshows are part of an advocacy campaign to engage with various stakeholders in the labour market on the implementation of the new legislation and its regulations.

“By closing the reporting component of the online system, this allows us space to manage and analyse data (reports) received from employers," Lehlokoa said.

In terms of Section 21 of the EE Act designated employers are obliged to submit an EE Report with the prescribed information and must be signed by the Chief Executive Officer. Every report prepared in terms of legislation is a public document.

In the same breadth, a labour inspector is empowered in terms of legislation to enforce the Act. The Act further states that no person knowingly gives false information in any document or information provided to the Director-General or a labour inspector. Such contravention may be subjected to a sanction.

The Department published two sets of Employment Equity (EE) Regulations on 15 April 2025, General Administrative Regulations, and Regulations on Sector Numerical EE Targets following the commencement of the Employment Equity Amendment Act, No. 4 of 2022, on 1 January 2025.

The Department of Employment and Labour is conducting the EE workshops in partnership with the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) and the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). The national workshops/roadshows are part of an advocacy campaign to engage with various stakeholders in the labour market on the implementation of the new legislation and its regulations.

The 2025 EE workshops 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 workshops will be held next week on June 18 in Northern Cape (Kimberley); and on 18-19 in Free State (Welkom and Bloemfontein, respectively).

The remaining schedule of 2025 national workshops is as follows:

Western Cape

·               George (24 June 2025) – venue to be confirmed (TBC)

·               Cape Town (25 May 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.

These are held from 09:00 to 14:00 in the respective venues 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 the 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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