{"id":345442,"date":"2019-10-09T15:09:41","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T13:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=345442"},"modified":"2019-10-09T15:09:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T13:09:41","slug":"harsh-new-law-to-enforce-transformation-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/345442\/harsh-new-law-to-enforce-transformation-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Harsh’ new law to enforce transformation in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) expects the Amended Employment Equity (EE) Bill to be tabled in parliament before the end of October 2019.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Wednesday (9 October), the CEE said that the bill will ‘further entrench and deepen transformation in the workplaces’.<\/p>\n

CEE Chairperson, Tabea Kabinde said that the amended EE Bill would empower the Labour Minister to regulate sector-specific employment equity targets<\/strong> and make an EE compliance certificate as a prerequisite<\/strong> for accessing state contracts.<\/p>\n

Responding to this week\u2019s Labour Court judgement which reconfirms the Constitutionality and legality of employment equity and affirmative action, she said the ruling was a victory for transformation.<\/p>\n

“Employers must continue to report and comply with EE law,” said Kabinde.<\/p>\n

In August, Minister\u00a0of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi has expressed<\/a> <\/strong>concern at the slow pace of workplace transformation and has promised that government will now introduce \u2018harsh measures\u2019 to ensure transformation in South African workplaces.<\/p>\n

He said that this will include the fast-tracking of amendments to the EE Act,<\/p>\n

“Our intention is to resuscitate legislation that could not go through. We hope Parliament will prioritise the bills because their amendments were at (an) advanced stage,” he said.<\/p>\n

Nxesi said that those who do not comply with the laws of the country must \u2018face the music and be punished\u2019.<\/p>\n

“We are not just talking about a single solution, but a range of solutions to deal with problems in the economy and workplace”.<\/p>\n

Transformation\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The CEE”s latest employment equity report, released at the end of August, showed that 65.6% of top management positions are occupied by white South Africans.<\/p>\n

Black Africans occupied 76% of the positions in government and whites occupied 69.6% of the positions in the private sector.<\/p>\n

The report shows that South Africa\u2019s economically active population is broken down as follows:<\/p>\n