COSATU Statement on the 14th 2013 Employment Equity Report
COSATU welcomes the rude awakening presented by the 2013 Employment Equity Report. We are very active in the labour market and have always said that whilst the general South African body politic has been saved from racism and the teachings of Verwoerd, the South African workplace still represents the past.
The Report confirms what we have always argued which is that the majority of our companies are still purely profit oriented and not concerned about social transformation. This is reflected by the heightened labour unrest that is brought about by their over-reliance on cheap labour and super-exploitation of workers. These companies have not embraced transformation as they continue not to have properly constituted consultation committees and even if they do such committees are used purely for the sake of their window dressing purposes
The major achievers of employment equity from the Report are not different from the major beneficiaries of apartheid. These are White Men and White Women. These two groupings have workplace representation figures that are way beyond their population percentage figures. Employers have whilst faced with the problem of addressing Black equity problems focused largely on the White Women as a very important group that needs particular focus in equity
The Report also highlight the fact that in the last Fifteen Years or so South Africa has only managed to move between 20-30% of Blacks in general into Senior Management positions. The three key findings can be summarised as follows
1. That white males still dominate Senior Management positions in largely the private sector workplaces. They have advanced higher than all other race group males as they have developed from a higher base than their counterparts. Many private sector companies still favour white males for senior management positions