Apartheid legacy still hounds the workplace: minister
Twenty years since South Africa’s first democratic election, remnants of apartheid remain in the workplace, according to Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant.
Less than 20 percent of South Africa’s top management positions are occupied by black Africans, the 14th Commission for Employment Equity’s report found.
Unveiling the report in Sandton, Johannesburg, on Wednesday, Oliphant said South Africa introduced employment equity legislation to address racial exclusion in the labour market under apartheid.
“It may sound nasty but the highest positions for most black people, particularly Africans, back then would have been ‘head garden boy’ and ‘head tea girl’.
“…Employment equity is… not only a moral and human rights imperative; it is also a pre-condition for this country’s development, achievement and sustainability of global competitiveness.”
The report, released on Wednesday, found a “staggered and inconsistent” pattern in the promotion of designated groups to top management.
The 2013 results showed 19.8 percent of workers at this level were black, down from 20.3 percent in 2009.
Whites dominated top management positions at 62.7 percent, while Indians constituted 8.3 percent, coloureds 5.1 percent and foreign nationals accounted for 4.1 percent.
This was against the backdrop of blacks representing 75 percent of the economically active population of the country, whereas whites represented 10.8 percent.
In terms of gender, 79.4 percent of top management posts were held by men. Only 1.5 percent of these positions were held by people with disabilities.
The report showed the raw data indicated that there were more women in top management in numerical terms (4646) than the total number of blacks at this level (4464).
The report showed that whites were particularly dominant in top management positions in the Western Cape, with 62 percent held by white men and 12.7 percent held by white women.
In the same province, 8.3 percent of top management jobs were held by coloured men and 4.4 percent by coloured women.
The highest percentage of black men in top jobs was in the North West at 42.5 percent, and black women top managers were most represented in the Free State at 15.4 percent.
Nationally, whites occupied 57 percent of senior management positions, blacks occupied just over 23 percent, Indians constituted 10 percent, and coloureds accounted for seven percent. The remaining three percent were foreign nationals.
Thirty percent of workers at this level were women, and only 1.2 percent of senior managers had a disability.
In the professionally qualified category, 40.2 percent were white, 38.4 were black, 9.4 were coloured, 9.4 were Indian, and 2.5 percent were foreign nationals. The gender split was 43.1 percent women against 56.9 percent men.
Mildred Oliphant
Remnants of apartheid
Twenty years since South Africa’s first democratic election, remnants of apartheid remain in the workplace, Oliphant said
“It may be nuanced differently than the crude characterisation at the height of apartheid.
“It may be expressed in clever words like lack of experience and other such terms, but in the end those at the coalface feel the racism and exclusion they thought the country got rid of when the new dispensation was agreed on.”
Earlier this year, the labour department published employment equity regulations for public comment.
The regulations give effect to the Employment Equity Amendment Act, providing practical guidelines on how to implement employment equity law in the workplace.
Oliphant said 20 years of freedom in South Africa had not been enough to fully address the legacy of apartheid.
“How is it possible that more than 300 years of discrimination can be reversed in such a short period,” she said.
The pace of transformation in society and labour remained very slow. The recently published regulations sought to expedite this process.
The regulations highlighted the revised definition of designated groups, criteria and methodology for assessing work of equal value, guidelines for assessing compliance, and enforcement mechanisms.
Helen Zille
EE regulations absurd: DA
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille recently branded the regulations “absurd”.
Zille said the department’s approach amounted to “race-based social engineering” and would entrench racial divisions rather than help overcome apartheid’s legacy.
Oliphant dismissed these criticisms, saying that regional and national demographics should be taken into account in determining numerical transformation targets.
The regulations in no way intended to disadvantage any of the designated groups, particularly Indians and coloureds.
“Anyone who says so is telling a blue lie and even in an election period, lies should not and cannot be acceptable.”
Oliphant said there were no immediate plans for a sunset clause on employment equity.
“We wish to put to those calling for a sunset clause, a lot of work still needs to be done.
“There is still a long road ahead in moving South Africa forward,” Oliphant said.
“Let us join our hands together… To make sure South Africa is a non-racial, non-sexist country, a prosperous country.”
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