Legal storm brewing over South Africa’s new employment laws

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is taking the Minister of Employment and Labour to court over the recently gazetted Employment Equity (EE) targets for businesses in South Africa.

The targets are part of the newly published Employment Equity Regulations, 2025, which were gazetted on 15 April and repealed previous laws in force.

The regulations set out specific racial and gender-based numerical targets for businesses across 18 industries in South Africa to achieve over the next five years.

The new EE regulations require businesses in South Africa to employ a workforce that reflects the country’s “economically active population” (EAP), nationally or provincially.

Despite decades of implementing such laws in South Africa, the pace of transformation has not met the government’s expectations.

Many top positions still do not reflect the black majority in the country, and the state now wants to force businesses to comply.

According to the department, the targets have been implemented to ensure the “equitable representation of suitably qualified people from designated groups at all occupational levels in the workforce”.

Designated groups refer to black people (African, coloured and Indian), women and people with disabilities.

Notably, the targets only apply to ‘designated employers’, which employ more than 50 people. These employers must set these targets in their Employment Equity plans and reports.

Failure to comply with the regulations could cause companies to be referred to the Labour Court and face fines.

However, the department noted that designated employers will not incur penalties or any form of disadvantage if they show reasonable grounds for not complying with the targets.

Designated employers must prepare and implement an EE Plan from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2030.

In April, the department further added that labour inspectors are “at the ready” to enforce the new laws.

“More than 50 labour inspectors specialising in employment equity (EE) were put through their paces to prepare them for implementing the EE Amendment Act,” said a department spokesperson. 

Department of Employment and Labour’s Employment Equity Directorate Deputy Director Masilo Lefika said a workshop was organised to prepare the EE inspectors as part of capacity building.

These inspectors will conduct inspections, enforce, and improve compliance with the new legislation, the accompanying regulations, and sector EE targets.

Legal challenge

However, the DA has launched a constitutional challenge against the new laws, specifically against Section 15a of the Employment Equity Amendment Act.

The party argues that the recent amendments are constitutionally invalid and abuse state power. 

“Section 15a violates Section 9 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law and prohibits unfair discrimination,” said the DA. 

“A law that forces employers to fire or refuse to hire people based on race, whether they are black, coloured, Indian, or white, is not redress. It is unconstitutional discrimination.”

One of the most significant additions was empowering the Minister of Employment and Labour to set specific sectoral employment targets for designated employers to follow.

“The Minister’s powers under Section 15a are vague, unchecked, and dangerously broad,” added the opposition party.

“The so-called ‘targets’ are not guidelines—they are binding quotas, enforceable under the threat of penalties of up to 10% of a company’s turnover.”

The DA further stressed that the law empowers the Minister to impose these quotas without clear criteria.

“This violates the Dawood principle, which says that intelligible and clear legal standards must guide public officials.” 

The party pointed out that this case is not about resisting redress. It is about protecting people’s rights under the Constitution, the rule of law, and the livelihoods of South Africans.

“The DA believes that real redress does not mean implementing policies that bring more division,” it said. 

“We believe that true transformation can only be achieved by focusing on inclusive economic growth that creates opportunity for all.” 

The DA argues that these quotas will destroy jobs, undermine the economy, and violate the constitutional rights of all South Africans.