The ANC's WC Employment Equity plan is racist 

The ANC's plans for employment equity in the Western Cape is racist. 

The bottom line is that the ANC would like to enforce national demographic quotas on employers in the province. This means that the coloured community in the Western Cape would essentially be excluded from jobs and promotions in the province.

The DA supports any policy aimed at redressing the economic legacy of apartheid. But these policies must be implemented fairly, to give everyone a fair chance at success. 

We note the ANC's untrue allegations about this issue. The fact of the matter is that we are fighting to give everyone in the Western Cape a fair chance to access economic opportunity. It is in fact the ANC's employment equity plan that is racist. 

The DA will not stand for this. We will stand for fair implementation of redress policies that do not exclude people because they belong to the "wrong race group".

The worst is that these new regulations will also place immense economic pressure on small businesses because of the high compliance costs. This will damage the economy and jeopardise job creation across all sectors and for everyone across all provinces. We need to put job-growing policies in place. If the economy grows at 8% for the next 10 years there will be enough top jobs for all. This is our approach.

We also believe that the South African Constitution does not allow for this kind of marginalisation. The Western Cape government has already received a legal opinion which clearly shows how these regulations are unconstitutional. 

We will do everything we can to stop these regulations from destroying opportunity for the people of the Western Cape. 

A vote for the DA is a vote against these regulations, and for fair opportunity for all. 

Statement issued by Ivan Meyer, DA Western Cape Leader, April 14 2014

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