SA's amended Employment Equity Act now includes race-based quotas

President Ramaphosa has signed into law new changes to South Africa’s Employment Equity Act . The recent amendments now allow the minister of employment and labour to set race-based quotas for economic sectors and regions where transformation is slow.Companies in 18 economic sectors across all provinces with more than 50 employees are now required to submit employment equity plans outlining their racial employment quotas.

The Presidency said the amendments to the EEA are consistent with the Constitution and will promote diversity and equality in the workplace and society. Meanwhile, trade union Solidarity’s legal team questioned the lawfulness of the amended bill, stating that the changes to the EEA are contrary to international labour conventions and that the government is guilty of being in contempt of such conventions.

Solidarity further expressed its concern that this form of legislation based on race does not aim to correct historical inequalities, but instead aims to apply social control. ‘The level at which the government wants to normalise discrimination in the workplace is shocking. The government wants to impose race targets that all employers in the country will have to meet. Through this law the Minister of Labour acquires unprecedented powers that will intensify the stranglehold race has on South Africa,’ Dr Dirk Hermann Solidarity’s chief executive said.

While the South African Government said the Act seeks to advance the transformation of the country’s workforce, Solidarity feels the amendments seem to target specific races. In some sectors and provinces, the set quotas for these groups are as low as 0%, effectively banning companies from employing people of a certain ethnic group.

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