The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) condemns the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR)’s bizarre attacks on Employment Equity.
Whilst they are they are free to take any law to court for constitutional verification, we are confident their legal adventurism will be dismissed as legally devoid and recognised as the apartheid nostalgia we believe it is.
The SAIRR would be better placed to spend its money on a constitutional law 101 course to help them become better acquainted with the Constitution as their arguments reveal a curious deficiency of understanding on their part.
The Constitution is eloquently clear in its requirements for the state to seek measures to address the discriminatory legacies of the past and the inequalities of today. Any government who fails to live up these fundamental constitutional prescriptions can and has been taken to court previously.
The Employment Equity Act is nearly as old as our hard-won democracy and has stood the test of time, including previous court reviews.
If the SAIRR had retained its once respected research capacity, it would be familiar with the 2023 amendments to the Employment Equity Act.
These amendments have sought after extensive engagements between labour and business at Nedlac and similar public hearings at Parliament, to strike a fair balance between easing administrative burdens on SMMEs, reflecting South Africa’s demographic diversity and equally to nudge employers to do better to ensure all employees have a fair chance to fulfil their full potential, in particular those historically denied equal opportunity.
These changes include easing reporting requirements on SMMEs, adapting employment equity targets to take into account regional demographic diversity and to adopt more focused targets for sectors falling woefully behind employment equity.
Even then the Regulations provide ample time, e.g. five years and modest targets, well below population demographics, for employers to work towards.
As with all laws, exemptions are provided for employers who have tried but for a variety of reasons cannot achieve their targets.
The SAIRR’s tone deaf attacks on employment equity, and in fact any attempts to address South Africa’s painful past of inequalities are a reflection of how far it has moved from its once liberal past to a stance today that places it next to AfriForum.
If the SAIRR was genuine in its desire to influence legislation, it would have exercised its constitutional rights to make representations to Parliament over the past 30 years.
It may be that the SAIRR whose board and staff complement are over 75% white, feels uncomfortable with any requirement to embrace the non-racial ethos of the democratic South Africa.
Issued by COSATU
Matthew Parks (COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator)
Cell: 082 785 0687
Email: matthew@cosatu.org.za