Department of labour must probe province
18 May 2017
The ANC calls on the Department of Labour and its Employment Equity Commission to conduct a special investigation into the racist Western Cape’s repeated underperformance in transforming the job market.
The latest report (2016/17) by the commission found the colonialist Western Cape is still the most untransformed province at the levels of top and senior management in the country. Although whites represent only 15% of the total provincial economically active population, whites hold 76,6% of top management positions, while blacks (coloured and African) only hold 17,4% of these posts. At senior level more than 65% are white. Almost half of professionally qualified workers are white.
White managers still dominate these levels with African and coloured managers (almost 85% of the Western Cape working population) the most under-represented. The report also notes white males are afforded the highest levels of recruitment and promotion opportunities as compared to the designated groups (women, people living with disability and black workers).
ANC Western Cape leader of the opposition in the legislature Khaya Magaxa says: “I agree with the report the white group apparently gets preferential treatment and therefore it is highly unlikely to achieve equitable representation at the top levels in the near future. Not much have changed as is evident with the very slow pace of real transformation and representation. We need to rapidly implement radical economic transformation.