The Employment Equity Act (EEA), which was passed to reform the South African labor market, has been in effect for more than 20 years, yet compliance rates regrettably remain low.
The 22nd annual employment equality report on workplace transformation in South Africa was released on Thursday by the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) and Minister of Employment and Labor Thulas Nxesi.
“If we are serious about reform, we should not be begging now,” Minister Nxesi remarked during the event. The moment has come to crack down severely on non-compliance.
Nxesi emphasized the necessity for transformation, warning that “the status quo will prevail for the next 100 years if we do not act now.”
According to him, the degree to which the government has been able to support the weaker members of society would serve as a barometer of society’s success.
The Minister acknowledged that the government had failed to alter the nation quickly enough.
“I’m hoping that the EE modifications that are currently being suggested in Parliament will change the game. While our people are vying for positions on the labor market, it cannot continue to be business as usual, he remarked.
We seem to be returning to slave conditions in this country, said Nxesi, noting the sustained and thriving slave conditions in the labor market where immigrants were being exploited.
Detail from CEE report
According to the most recent CEE data, White males held 63.2 percent (up from 64.7 percent in 2020) of top managerial positions in 2021, followed by Africans (17.0 percent) and Indians (10.9 percent) and Coloreds (5.9 percent) (2020: 5.7 percent ).
The survey also revealed that White and Indian population groups continue to be overrepresented at the top management level in comparison to their Economically Active Populations (EAP).
Although there has been a minor reduction of 0.1 percent from the prior year at this occupational level, the presence of foreign nationals is still very high at 3.0 percent and the African and colored demographic groups continue to be grossly underrepresented.
According to the research, top management transformation is more apparent among government agencies.
Data from Statistics South Africa’s quarterly labor force survey provide the foundation of the EAP. Employers can use the EAP as a benchmark to help them analyze their workforce and identify the extent of under- or over-representation of the selected categories.
Males of all racial groups made up 55.3 percent of the Nationally Economically Active by Population Group and Gender, according to the survey, while females made up 44.7 percent.
Males from Africa make up 43.6 percent of the population, followed by men of color, Indian men, 5.0 percent, and white men, 4.9 percent. African females made up 35.8% of the population, followed by colored women (4.1%), indian women (0.9%), and white women (3.9%).
After increasing to 1.5 percent representation in 2019, the percentage of disabled people in top management has stayed at 1.6 percent.
The CEE report spans the months of April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022.
The study of the report included movements by population groups, gender, and disability as well as the six occupational levels of the labor profile. Top management, senior management, professionally qualified/middle management, skilled technical/junior management, semi-skilled, and unskilled are some of these levels.
Additionally, it gives information on the state of employment equity across the main business and economic sectors reported in 2021.
The research also highlights a failure to properly analyze workplace impediments and a failure to take the affirmative action steps necessary to achieve employment equity.
“A similar trend to top management is seen at the senior management level. The White demographic group continues to dominate at this occupational level, despite its representation dropping by about 1% year, according to the research.
According to the survey, they are the group with the highest representation at this occupational level, with a representation rate of 51.4%, followed by the Indian population group at 12%.
“When compared to its EAP, each of these population groupings are wildly overrepresented. Both the White and Indian demographic groups are overrepresented in respect to their EAP at this occupational level, and this trend is seen in both the Public Service and the Private Sector. At this level, the Private Sector (3.2%) employs more foreign nationals than the Public Service (0.4%), according to the research.
The research went on to say that senior management positions at educational institutions had a high percentage of foreign nationals (5%) working there.
The Professionally Qualified/Middle Management level has a recurring racial misalignment. The demographic groups of White, Indian, and Colored people are here above their EAP at this level.
The only population group that is significantly behind their EAP at this occupational level is Africans, and the incremental progress made for this group over time has been minimal.
“Around 33% less Africans are represented in the population than in their EAP. Both the public and private sectors continue to be dominated by the White demographic group, according to the survey.
According to the survey, the female group, having attained their EAP, is functioning significantly well at the professional certified occupational level.
Technical level: skilled
The African population group is still below their EAP at the Skilled Technical level, while all the other population groups have exceeded their EAP.
The representation of the colored and indian population groups has decreased at the semi-skilled level. According to the survey, there seems to be a tendency toward hiring more people from specific groups in this area.
While the African and Colored population groups are overrepresented at the Unskilled level, the African female group is overrepresented at this occupational level (53.5%), followed by the African male group (38.2%%) in the Public Service.
At this occupational level, the African male group is the most represented in the private sector (48.5%), followed by the African female group (34.5%).
White and Indian population groupings continue to be far below their EAP at this level, while Foreign National participation maintained at 3.7 percent as reported in the previous year.
Parliament is presently debating the EE Amendment Bill.
On the strength of the EE Amendment Bill, which is presently before Parliament, the CEE releases the report.
The Employment Equity Amendment Bill needs to be signed into law immediately now that it has been finalized, according to Tabea Kabinde, chair of the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE).
Only 10.8% of employers, according to Kabinde, acknowledged facing difficulties in putting change into practice.
Kabinde questioned why a high number of conflicts, particularly those involving wage discrepancies, were being referred to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration if the estimated 90 percent were not encountering impediments.
The CEE Chairperson expressed concern on behalf of the Commission that not enough has been done to address the situation of those with disabilities.
According to her, there were 4 308 instances of unjust discrimination reported between 2019 and June 2020, which is one of the trends and disputes growing in the transformation field. As more incidents go undetected, she claimed that the situation could have been worse.