By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) NEC member and Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi defended the party’s support of the Employment Equity Amendment Act (EEA), which has been widely criticised by the Democratic Alliance (DA) and organisations, including Solidarity Union.
Solidarity Union’s earlier this month it had served summons on President Cyril Ramaphosa, Nxesi, the director-general of Employment and Labour, and the Employment Equity Commission over the Employment Equity Amendment Bill of 2020.
The union said that it had taken these steps after the president, earlier this year, signed the Amendment Bill on Employment Equity.
“Transformation in this country is a must, given where we come from,” Nxesi said, adding that companies would have to consider the demographics in that area when implementing these targets.
“What does this agreement say? What does it mean? This agreement means that once we have signed [it], it provides that policy and certainty, and it also says we are not talking about a one-size-fits-all which will be imposed on those companies. There are a number of conditions they [companies] will have to meet. There are even conditions where they can justify non-compliance, which is in the act,”Nxesi added.
Nxesi said the DA, in a bid to drive a wedge between ethnic groups, asked whether national or regional demographics are to be reflected in targets.
The law allows employers to choose whether to report nationally or provincially. If the company chooses to report provincially, it uses the provincial EAP (Economically Active Population figures), that is published together with the national EAP by Stats SA. Why is this an issue for the DA?
“Amazing how those who benefited most from racial privilege under apartheid are the first to accuse others of ‘racial quotas’, ‘reverse racism’ etc,” he said.
Commenting on the act, the chair of the economic transformation subcommittee, Mmamoloko Kubayi, said the party rejected efforts by the DA to spread misinformation in the coloured community.
“Some people have been going into communities, especially in coloured communities, to say the ANC has abandoned coloured communities; it is not true.
“That is why we felt it is important for us to clarify this so that everybody understands we remain as the ANC pro-transformation, but the transformation is not only for black South Africans, or excluding other racial groups which are previously disadvantaged communities. I mean, if you look at women as well … even white women who were disadvantaged previously,” Kubayi said.