Pretoria - A review and tightening of the Employment Equity Act may be a solution to the "gloomy" picture of the status of employment equity in the country.
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana, speaking at the release of the 10th Annual Employment Equity Report in Pretoria today, said the Act had been distorted by the "privileged" so they could preserve their positions.
He said white males continued to dominate the economy, black women continued to be treated as inferior, while black men were moving up, they were perpetuating gender inequality by leaving behind black women.
"A change must and will come in this regard. We have no option but to revisit the Act and tighten it," said the minister, adding that he would act swiftly to get the matter in the public arena so that the necessary social discourse is embarked upon towards finding a solution.
While convinced the Act was still relevant in redressing inequalities in the workplace, there needed to be speedy action to increase the representivity of especially black women and people with disabilities.
"The longer we take to make reasonable progress towards implementing employment equity, the more negative the impact would be on the growth of our economy and stability of our democracy," said Mdladlana.
The Employment Equity Report showed there were still salary discrepancies among races and that males still dominated higher positions. It also indicated that there was still racism in the workplace.
Minister Mdladlana said non-compliance by some employers was an indication that people were arrogant or showed a lack of interest in the law. "Compliance with the Employment Equity Act is not an option but mandatory in terms of Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa."
Strengthening the Employment Equity Act might also make it easier to prosecute employers who do not comply with the Act. It would also review the current fines imposed on non-compliant employers.
Currently, non-compliant employers are fined up to R500 000, which according to the minister is very low. "With the new amendments, we want to fine people on the spot like traffic officers," he said.
Newly appointed Chairperson of the Commission Mpho Nkeli agreed that there was a need to strengthen the law. "Changes in the Act will make things to happen differently," she said.
She said while the Employment Equity Report was not generally positive, there had been a slight improvement from last year's findings
