South African labour market continues to reflect pronounced racial; gender and disability disparities, this is according to the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) in its 26^th Annual Report.

The Commission for Employment Equity said the upper two decision-making occupational levels (i.e. top management and senior management), remain racialised and gendered with the white and Indian population groups; and males being dominant at these levels.

Released under the tagline - “Bridging the Equity Gap Through Diversity and Inclusion" – the report is based on analysis of EE data in the EE reports submitted by designated employers (i.e. those that employ 50 and more employees) in the 2025 EE reporting cycle, indicates that the South African labour market continues to reflect pronounced racial; gender and disability disparities.

The CEE uses the Economically Active Population (EAP) as produced by Statistics SA as a benchmark to assist employers in the analysis of their workforce to determine the degree of under or over-representation of the designated groups and non-designated groups in the workforce. The EAP includes persons between the ages of 15 to 64 years, who are either employed or unemployed, but seeking employment.

In terms of EAP as per the report's review the African population group for both gender (male and female) account for 81,3 percent; Coloured population group for both genders 8,6 percent; White population group total is 7,7 percent and the Indian population group is 2,4 percent.

According to the CEE Annual Report the White population representation at 57.1% is approximately seven times their EAP and the Indian population representation at 12.2% is more than five times their EAP at the Top Management level. In contrast, the African population representation at 21.1% is approximately four times below their EAP and the Coloured population representation at 6.4% is slightly below their EAP at this occupational level. Foreign National representation stands at 3.1% at this occupational level.

CEE said the male representation remains dominant at the Top Management level, which is more than two times the female representation. It also shows that males are overrepresented in terms of their EAP (54.3%) and females are underrepresented in terms of their EAP (45.7%) at this occupational level.  The report further indicates that employees with disabilities remain low and only account for 2.5% of the representation at the Top Management level.

“Notably, most designated groups, in particular, black women and persons with disabilities continue to be predominantly concentrated within the lower to middle management occupational levels of the workforce. Although there has been an encouraging increase in the representation of women in lower to middle management occupational levels, this upward movement has not yet translated into substantial gains at Senior Management and Top Management occupational levels, CEE said.

CEE is a statutory body mandated to advise the Minister of Employment and Labour on the development of Codes of Good Practice, regulatory matters, policy directions, and any issues arising from the implementation of the Act.

The report said the persistently low representation of persons with disabilities remaining slightly above 1% across all occupational levels of all economic sectors for decades remains a significant concern. The Commission said following the new landscape on the setting of sector targets it urges employers to prioritise and adopt assertive strategies when developing and implementing their Employment Equity Plans (EE Plans).

“Additionally, the high representation of Foreign Nationals across all occupational levels in the economy, particularly in the public universities, remains a concern and must be monitored vigilantly. In a country grappling with high unemployment rates, it is essential for South Africa to thoroughly review the legislative framework governing labour migration and take appropriate action where necessary," cautioned CEE.

The 26^th CEE Annual report, which covers the period from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 reflects on the key strategic objectives of the CEE; and the highlights of the CEE's activities and achievements during the period under review, guided by the strategic objectives formulated at the start of their five-year term of office in December 2020.

In the 2025/26 some 15 090 reports were submitted covering 6 896 041 employees, which reflects a decrease of 48.4% reports received and a decrease of 10.4% employees covered. The significant drop in the number of reports received from 2024 (29 269) to 2025 (15 090) is largely due to the change in legislation that does not require small employers (1-49) in the main to submit report anymore. The drop in the employees covered from 2024 (7 699 665) to 2025 (6 896 041) is insignificant because small employers accounted for few employees (803 624).

For the period under review the highest number of reports was received from Manufacturing Sector, followed by the Wholesale and Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles and the Agriculture, forestry and Fishing sectors.

In the Senior Management level, the White population group representation at 44.1% - which is approximately six times their EAP and the representation of the Indian population group at 12.5% is approximately five times their EAP at the Senior Management level. The representation of the African population group at 31.5% is less than half their EAP at this level. The high representation of Foreign Nationals (3.3%) is noted at this occupational level.

For the Professionally Qualified level the Africans are the only population group that is below their EAP at the Professionally Qualified level. The representation of Foreign Nationals at 2.2% is relatively high at this occupational level. The White and Indian population representation far exceeds their EAP in most sectors of the economy at the Professionally Qualified level.

While in the Skilled level Africans is the only population group that is under-represented in relation to their EAP at the skilled level. It also shows that the representation of Foreign Nationals is at 1.3% at this occupational level. The representation of females is above the EAP at the Skilled level - with employees with disabilities' EAP is at 1.2% of the total workforce at this occupational level.

In the Semi-Skilled level Africans and Coloureds are over-represented. The White and Indian population groups are under-represented at this occupational level. The high representation of Foreign Nationals (1.7%) at this low occupational level remains a concern to the CEE.

The report said representation of Indians and Whites are the only population groups that are below their EAP at the Unskilled level. The CEE said considering the high unemployment rate in South Africa, it is crucial that the representation of Foreign Nationals (3.2%) should be monitored and managed at this occupational level. The representation of Africans and Coloureds are the only population groups that are over-represented in both Government and in the Private Sector at the Unskilled level.

Despite set targets the Commission revealed that the representation of employees with disabilities is at 1.3% of the total workforce in 2025.

This is the first report after the operationalisation of the Employment Equity Amendment Act no.4 of 2022 (EE Amendment Act, 2022) and the introduction of the 5-year Sector EE targets, including the issuing of the EE Compliance Certificate. The Employment Equity Amendment Act, No. 4 of 2022 (EE Amendment Act, 2022) and the two sets of EE Regulations, 2025 became effective on 1 January 2025 and 15 April 2025, respectively.

Reflecting on the status of litigation – the CEE said these cases primarily concern the constitutional validity, lawfulness, and implementation of the amended EE legislative framework and the sectoral numerical targets. Some of the litigations have been filed by political parties, employers' organisations, civil movements, and trade unions. 

“The CEE will continue to strive for diversity and inclusivity for all those persons previously disadvantaged in the workplace irrespective of the outcome of the litigation," says outgoing CEE Chairperson Nicole Deokiram.

 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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