Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations
2.5 Implementation of employment equity in South Africa
In terms of the Constitution of South Africa (1996) everyone has the right to equality.
Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 drawn its mandate from the Constitution and require all designated employers to achieve equity in the workplace. The Act promote equal opportunities and fair treatment through the elimination of unfair discrimination in the workplace. Employers have the obligation to display the summary of the provisions of the act in all languages relevant to their workplace, to ensure that employees are conversant with it (Thomas,1996). Every designated employer is required to complete the Employment Equity plan and submit it annually to the Department of Labour, hence it must be in possession of the following documents:
the code of good practice, the employment equity act document, the regulation under the employment equity act and the User Guide. The Employment Equity plan is a formal report used by the Department of Labour to measure Employment Equity Act compliance and implementation.
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Mazur (2010) states that managing diversity concerns the management of people irrespective of race, gender, ethnic background, disability, sexual orientation.
Managing diversity represents a management approach which includes different management practices and strategies aimed at developing and empowering a diverse workforce. To support the above statement, the Department of Education (DoE, 1997) White Paper made clear that an important task in planning and managing a single national co-ordinated system was to ensure diversity in its organisational form and in the institutional landscape, and offset pressures for homogenisation, and to diversify the system in terms of the mix of institutional missions and programmes that will be required to meet national and provincial needs in social, cultural and economic development. Higher education plays an important role in developing the society both socially and economically.
According to Kola (2012) higher education institutions in South Africa are faced with the challenge to eradicate the historical imbalances and realign its programmes in order to serve the new social order. Universities may not take seriously enough the need for employment equity in their own workplaces. In order for universities to be leaders and role models for democracy, they must themselves practice the politics of inclusion and forge democratic principles. The above challenge was caused by the legacy of apartheid. The effect of apartheid is still predominant in terms of skills distribution among white and black people. The racial basis of all higher education institutions which were created in the past racist regimes in South Africa, twists the current situation of each institution in relation to employment equity and sets them apart from traditional business employers (Thomas, 1996). The university frequently employs people with highly specialised skills in academic and technical or administrative category, which take an extended amount of time to acquire the EEA presents a particular set of challenges and constraints for the higher education institution as an employer.
Employment Equity Act (1998) section 20(a) of the Employment Equity Act requires all designated employers including the University of Limpopo to prepare and implement a plan to achieve employment equity. The Employment Equity Plan, in this case, refers to a strategic document that details the plan of action on how the employer, in this case the University, is going to reach its transformational goals.
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During the period in question, the University has had an approved five-year Employment Equity Plan starting from 2015 to 2020, which reflected a narrative part describing the challenges, affirmative action measures and Employment Equity (EE) targets (statistics) that reflect the employment equity profile of the University per occupational level, race and gender (South Africa, 1998).
Various pieces of legislation in South Africa strive to foster nation-building and to unite diverse communities. The Constitution of South Africa Act 108 1996, which stipulates in section 195 that public institutions must be broadly representative of the South African people, with employment and personnel management practices based on ability, objectivity and fairness. Public managers cannot discriminate against personnel members on one or more of the following, race, gender, sex, ethnic and social origin, language, colour, sexual orientation, religion, belief and culture. (Du Toit, Van der Waldt, Bayat & Cheminais, 1998).
To support the above statement Kola (2012) states that equality includes full and equal access and enjoyment of all the rights and freedoms entrenched in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996. The preamble to the Employment Equity Act makes provision for promoting the constitutional right of equality and the exercise of true democracy. The South Africa is country rich in racial and cultural diversity. Ignoring one race or culture would mean depriving the public service of its experience and talent.
Table 2.1: 2016 National EAP by population group, race and gender Population Group Male Female Total
African 42.8% 35.1% 78.0%
Coloured 5.3% 4.5% 9.8%
Indian 1.8% 1.0% 2.8%
White 5.3% 4.2% 9.5%
Total 55.2% 44.8% 100%
Source: Economical Active Population (compiled and adopted from statistics SA 2016)
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Table 2.2: 2016/2017 Commission for Employment Equity report received by business type
Source: 17th Commission for Employment Equity Report 2016/2017
Educational institutions accounts for 1.1% of the reports submitted to the Department.
This is an indication that educational institutions still have the challenge in the implementation of the Employment Equity Act.
Table 2.3: Workforce profile at top management level by race, gender and business type Business
Type
Male Female Foreign
Nationals
Total
African coloured Indian White African coloured Indian White Male Female National
Government
39.3% 6.6% 6.2% 10.5% 26.0% 3.0% 3.0% 4.8% 0.2% 0.5% 100.0%
Provincial Government
47.4% 5.6% 2.4% 6.8% 28.4% 3.4% 1.5% 4.2% 0.0% 0.2% 100.0%
Local Government
54.1% 6.0% 5.0% 8.2% 21.0% 1.3% 1.5% 2.6% 0.2% 0.1% 100.0%
Private Sector
7.5% 3.0% 6.7% 59.1% 3.3% 1.7% 2.3% 13.0% 3.0% 0.5% 100.0%
Non-Profit Organisation
22.55 4.5% 3.5% 26.8% 13.0% 2.9% 3.4% 18.6% 2.6% 2.1% 100.0%
States- Owned Enterprises
35.0% 4.3% 7.4% 16.2% 22.0% 2.8% 3.3% 7.7% 1.2% 0.2% 100.0%
Educational Institutions
15.1% 4.6% 2.7% 35.8% 7.5% 1.8% 2.3% 26.2% 2.5% 1.5% 100.0%
Source: 17th Commission for Employment Equity Report 2016/2017
Business Type Report Received Percentage Employees
National Government 49 0.2% 365 045
Provincial Government 136 0.5% 498 360
Local Government 193 0.7% 173 580
Private Sector 24 899 94.8% 5 224 047
Non-Profit Organizations
561 2.1% 265 115
States-Owned Enterprises
116 0.4% 255 081
Educational Institutions 301 1.1% 290 221
Total 26 255 100% 7 071 449
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White representation remains overwhelming in the Educational Institutions as compared to other racial groups. There is an overrepresentation of White racial group in the Educational Institutions.
South African Human Rights Commission Equality Report (2012) indicated that the gender and disability components of employment equity tended to be ignored, in contravention of the EEA. There is a general lack of coherence in terms of gender transformation policies and policies addressing disability. The report further states that the assignment of responsibility for gender transformation and inclusion of gender criteria in the performance management of appropriate managers remains a problem for many of the departments. Booyens (2007) indicated that there is large overlap between the barriers to effective EE implementation and retention of blacks. A limited external pool of previously disadvantaged individuals to recruit and select from was also identified as external barriers. She further indicated that there is no shared understanding of or communication of the value of EE implementation, which is mostly still seen as compliance issue. It seems that Money Bank has a backlog regarding talent management for all employees and especially for black employees. Thomas’
(2004) study on employment practices at selected companies in South Africa clearly shows the importance of ongoing communication and feedback through different media, especially direct face-to-face communication as well as consultation at all levels in this regards.
2.6 Challenges in the implementation of Employment Equity Act in the