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Pretoria – Affirmative action and employment equity policies should not be scrapped, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant said on Tuesday.
The minister was speaking at a briefing at the launch of the annual report of the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) in Pretoria.
“Introducing employment equity was for all intents and purposes, a recognition that South Africa comes from an ugly past, where discrimination was the cornerstone of social and economic engineering,” said Oliphant.
She added that it was too easy to see the outcomes of the intended law, but that there were signs of improvements within labour.
'The only show in town'
“Employment equity and affirmative action remain the only instruments to redress fundamental labour market inequities,” said Oliphant. “It is the only show in town and for that reason we have no choice but to make it work.”
Oliphant pointed out that the nation is still suffering from an “apartheid hangover” as many are still holding on to “outdated historic tendencies”. She added that despite this, government is doing something to redress it.
Oliphant said “relatively good administrative compliance” will translate into the needed change. Existing administrative compliance should be evaluated to determine if it is relatively good and significant enough to achieve desired outcomes.
She suggested that non-compliance is not only the fault of employers, but also of employees who are complacent. “I call on workers to be vigilant, by ensuring they truly scrutinise the equity plans and reports.” She encouraged workers to report violations.
