Punitive employment equity measures will kill growth and jobs
Today the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) briefed the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour on the state of employment equity and proposed changes to the Employment Equity (EE) Act.
Changes to the EE Act, which would introduce harsher punitive measures for non-compliance and empower the Minster to set sector-specific EE targets, will kill economic growth and destroy jobs.
The latest figures show that 20 years after the introduction of the Employment Equity Act, the legislation has been a spectacular failure in diversifying the workplace.
The 19th annual report of the Commission for Employment Equity puts African representation at the top management level at 76% in the public service and 12% in the private sector, where whites occupy some 70% of senior posts.
The government thinks the problem is a lack of enforcement and therefore wants to amend the law to introduce harsher punitive measures. This is madness. Instead of focusing on racial bean-counting, the government should worry more about growing the pool of skilled black professionals and developing a pipeline of promotion in the workplace.
The focus should be on:
The promotion of diversity in the workplace through a balanced qualitative approach to EE, rather than the pursuit of narrow demographic representivity through a rigid quantitative approach
The extension of opportunities and provision of support in the workplace to all suitably qualified individuals rather than the manipulation of outcomes for political ends to the benefit of a select few.
Measures that broaden opportunities and provide support through education, training, mentoring and skills development.
The EE Act has done very little to promote the achievement of equality. Income inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient) has increased since 1994 largely because EE (and black economic empowerment) have widened inequality among black South Africans by helping a small politically connected group to prosper, while 10 million unemployed South Africans remain poor and disadvantaged.
The proposal to empower the Minister to regulate sector-specific EE targets is a terrible idea akin to the introduction of quotas. This goes against the spirit and letter of the EE Act, Section 15(3) of which prohibits quotas.
The time has come to rethink both EE and BEE. They are failed policies. Redressing the legacy of the past requires meaningful skills development for those who were previously denied it. This would allow for more and more people to enter top management and for these upper levels to be truly diverse.
The DA would create a solid skills pipeline, focus on job-creating economic growth and support previously disadvantaged South Africans to succeed in the upper echelons of our economy.
Statement issued by Dr Michael Cardo MP - DA Shadow Minister for Employment and Labour, 27 November 2019
