employment equity hits all time low
21 May 2007

Corporate compliance with the Employment Equity Act was at an “all-time low”, Commission for Employment Equity chairman Jimmy Manyi said last night.

Management of the economy remained predominantly in white hands, with black people largely consigned to support functions such as human resources, corporate affairs and government liaison, and denied access to line-function authority.

“The pace of transformation has been painfully slow,” Manyi said when handing over the 2006-07 employment equity report to Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana at a media function last night ahead of the minister’s budget vote speech in the National Assembly today.

To have a greater impact, the labour department and the commission also intend targeting the top 100 companies listed on the JSE to get “serious progress” in compliance.

The commission has also recommended that fines for non-compliance be increased because they were at present “too low and meaningless”.

Manyi reported in the commission’s findings that in 2000- 06, the number of blacks in top management rose by a “very shocking” 9,5%, of which the number of Africans increased 5,1% to 11,3%, coloureds 2% to 4,7% and Indians 2,4% to 6,2%.

White women, however, increased 4,5% to 14,7%, or three times their representation in the economically active population. Manyi attributed this “serious over-representation” of white women as indicative of the racist preferences of the white male gatekeepers of employment.

The number of professionally qualified blacks employed by corporate SA declined during this period 7,6%, with the number of Africans decreasing 12,6% and coloureds and Indians each increasing 2,5%.

The number of women professionals employed declined 6,9% and African women professionals dropped 13,3%.

The representation of disabled people in the workforce fell from 0,9% in 2000 to 0,7% last year, the report showed.

Linda Ensor, www.businessday.com