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'Real teeth' needed to fix stubbornly slow transformation - govt

Cape Town – The Employment Equity Report released on Tuesday showing slow progress with transformation and equality is “simply not good enough”, said Cabinet on Thursday. 

Communications Minister Ayanda Dlodlo was reading from a Cabinet statement, following the previous day’s meeting of the executive. 

READ: Little has changed on employment equity front - report 

“The release of the 17th Commission for Employment Equity Report shows the stubbornly slow pace of transformation at various workplaces in the South African labour market,” Cabinet said. 

According to the report, there has been an increase of only 0.8% in top management level positions among the African population. This grouping makes up only 14.4% of top management positions. White South Africans, on the other hand, occupy more than half of top management positions. 

Cabinet said it supports Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant’s intention to adopt “harsher consequences” for companies which don’t comply with employment equity legislation. 

At the launch of the latest report, Oliphant said current fines are “too small”. 

READ: Oliphant: JSE firms culprits in stalling transformation 

“We are seriously considering approaching the president to enact more punitive sections and chapters of the Employment Equity Act, which were initially excluded,” Fin24 quoted her as saying. 

“This will give the Employment Equity Act real teeth and will bite where it hurts the most,” she said, referring to employers' revenue. 

During Thursday’s media briefing, Dlodlo was asked what specific punitive measures government is considering. She said it is evident that fines or penalties are not sufficient to address lack of transformation in the workplace. 

“I hope the labour minister will soon take the nation into her confidence about what exactly she plans to implement to deter companies from not complying,” she said. 

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