Address by the Hon. Minister of Labour: Ms Mildred N Oliphant, at the official Opening of the EE and Transformation Indaba 2014, April 9 2014

Programme director;

Honourable guests;

Members of the media;

Ladies and gentlemen;

April is freedom month. We all know that April 1994 ushered in a new era, an era where the dignity of all human beings became sacrosanct. In recognition of this fact and the fact that a lot of people laid down their lives so that we can meet as free men and women, can we all rise and observe a minute's silence for all those heroes and heroines whose blood nurtured this tree of freedom......

Thank you

Programme director

It gives me great pleasure to stand here in front of you on this the second Employment Equity Indaba in the year that we celebrate the second decade of our freedom. However, this freedom though rings hollow to many people who find themselves still facing discrimination in the workplace.

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 in the coalface feel the racism and exclusion they thought the country got rid when the new dispensation was agreed on. Those that feel it know it better and they tell us of these experiences. And this is partly the reason we are here today.

The Employment Equity and Transformation Indaba creates an opportunity and a platform for all us to pause and reflect on the transformation journey travelled thus far and where we want to see ourselves in the future.

The majority of South Africans, even prior to the Freedom Charter being formalised, had aspirations for a free and fair society where everyone shall be equal before the law. These aspirations placed equality, human dignity and human rights at the dawn of our democracy.

On 26 June 1955, the ‘real' Congress of the People declared in Kliptown for the entire world to hear that, "all shall be equal before the law" and that all laws that discriminate on the grounds of race colour and belief shall be repealed.

The exhortation was as a result of continued oppression of the majority of people in this country; the working class in particular, whose dignity was assaulted and defiled by Apartheid policies. The dawn of democracy dictated the uprooting of the effects left behind by Apartheid policies.

In crafting the Constitution, we were well aware of what the Freedom Charter called for. We were alive to its exhortations and the final result reflected in large part these calls by our people back then.

The Constitution clearly sets out provisions on equality in the Bill of Rights, including the need for national legislation, to prevent or prohibit unfair discrimination and to promote equality in order to address imbalances that stem from our past.

Therefore, to give effect to the provisions of equality in the Constitution, a Green Paper on Employment and Occupational Equity was published in 1996, which summarised the findings of a research on workplace inequalities and discrimination in South Africa. Key conclusions of this Green Paper was that although virtually all the apartheid laws that legalised the systemic exclusion of Black people from labour market opportunities and benefits had been abolished, the social consequences of such laws continued to undermine equal opportunities in the labour market. It noted that there were accumulated social disadvantages that Black people in general continued to experience in the labour market.

The green paper also made it very clear that this was not just a race issue. White women and persons with disabilities had also experienced systemic unfair discrimination and were disadvantaged in the labour market. The Green Paper recommended that legislation be enacted that went beyond passive prohibition of discrimination and focussed on the proactive eradication of discrimination and promotion of equality in the workplace.

Ladies and gentlemen

It is the priority of government to deal with the inequalities left behind by the Apartheid legacy in order to bring about socio-economic freedom. The Employment Equity Act, Skills Development Act, Promotion of Equality and the Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA) and the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act are some of the pieces of transformation legislation enacted to accomplish this task.

The passing of the Employment Equity Act marked a turning point in our history as it is the first equality legislation to be passed by a democratically elected Parliament in 1998 to give effect to the Constitutional provisions relating to equality in South Africa. This piece of legislation sought to contribute to the restoration of human dignity and human rights that were deprived to the majority of South Africans by:-

Promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination; and

Implementing affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups achieving equality in the workplace.

The Employment Equity Act was introduced against the background of extreme disparities in the distribution of labour market opportunities. A key indicator of these disparities is labour market segregation involving job reservation. The negative impact of this exclusion is the gross under-representation of Black people, women and people with disabilities in key areas of the labour market, including management, science and technology-based occupations. 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.

Unfair discrimination practices in the workplace have led to under-utilization of the greater portion of the productive population of South Africa. Although the country requires skills in certain critical areas in the economy, many graduates nonetheless are either underemployed or unemployed; among these, the majority are Black females and people with disabilities.

It is telling that although this country has one of the most diverse populations in the world, this has not translated into a strategic business advantage in the country. This has serious implications for the economic viability and efficiency of South Africa, which in turn undermines its development and sustained competitiveness in the global market.

Employment equity is therefore, 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. While it is necessary to develop all human resources in a country, the achievement of employment equity requires proactive interventions that prioritise the development of the historically neglected populations.

Expectations of the designated groups are no different to those outlined in the purpose of the Employment Equity Act. This means that measures should be put in place to ensure that all persons, including the designated groups, enjoy full civil and political rights without discrimination of any kind.

This implies adopting national programmes, including affirmative action and economic measures, to promote the access of the designated groups to, amongst others, education, medical care, social services, employment and other forms of income generation.

Positive measures like affirmative action and economic empowerment should be seen as enabling tools for the achievement of real equality.

Ladies and gentlemen

Twenty years later into our democracy and 16 years since the enactment of the Employment Equity Act, the remnants of Apartheid still persist. We are confronted daily by assertions that we have had 20 years to make things right. How is it possible that the effects of 450 years of discrimination can be reversed in such a short period?

Many Black people, women and people with disabilities are still relegated to lower level jobs in the name of lack of skills, whilst there are many graduates from designated groups who are either sitting at home unemployed or under-employed. The majority of the workplaces are still "Lilly White" at the top and often male over-represented with a few pockets of Black and women executives.

The pace of transforming our society and notably, the labour market is still very slow. There is a need for collaboration with all social partners and stakeholders involved to address the issues of transformation in our country. Although the public sector has managed to transform, many employers in the private sector are still found to be wanting in terms of implementing employment equity, as it is ‘business as usual' for many employers.

A mind-set shift is crucial to drive change in the workplace and hence the country in order to bridge the equity gap. The amendments to the Employment Equity Act came at an opportune time when the country is reflecting on the journey travelled over the 20 years of democracy.

It is important to emphasize that the draft Employment Equity regulations recently published for public comment, are in no way intended to disadvantage any of the designated groups, in particular the Coloured and Indian groups. Anyone who says so is telling a blue lie and even in an election period, lies should not and cannot be acceptable. In fact, contrary to what some parties have claimed, the regulations were introduced to enhance the implementation of the law given the high levels of non-compliance that the Department has observed over the 16 years of the enactment of this Act.

The EE data in the previous 2012/2013 Commission for Employment Equity Report bears testimony to the fact that in the Western Cape, Whites accounted for 79.5% and 68%, whilst the Coloureds only accounted for 11.8% and 19.3% of all Top management and senior management positions respectively. I don't even want to mention the statistics for Africans in this province because they are a forgotten group who are referred to as "migrants" in their land of birth. This is happening, despite the fact that the law clearly states that designated employers should take into account both the national and regional demographics of the Economically Active Population when setting their numerical goals and targets.

The public comments received by the Department on the draft regulations are appreciated though some of them were insulting without providing any valuable solutions on how to address the persistent inequalities bedevilling our democracy. This approach has been taken by some who shouted at the top of their voices without making an input into the commentary on regulations. In fact, the social partners at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) are now busy deliberating on the draft regulations and the consolidated public comments. This means that the final product will be a result of a consultative process that reflects the views of a cross-section of our population. We take seriously our commitment to tri-partism.

In conclusion, I wish to point out to those who are calling for a sunset clause that a lot of work still needs to be done to create equitable and transformed workplaces, which are free from unfair discrimination.

I believe that as a country, we can achieve almost anything we want to achieve as long as we put our mind to it and work hard for its success. There is still a long road ahead but in moving South Africa forward, we will stop at nothing to make freedom a reality for ALL our people.

We will not be dissuaded when some amongst us are being discriminated on the pretext of skills or experience. Experience is the result of being given a chance to prove yourself. That is the least we can do: avail the opportunity and not hide behind some excuse. We have much to do. And we will prevail.

Thank you

Issued by the Department of Labour, April 9 2014

See the CEE's latest report here: Commission for Employment Equity Report 2013 - 2014- full report.pdf

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