The African National Congress has hit back at claims by its opposition that the Employment Equity Amendment Act, aimed at increasing the employment of black people in South Africa, was another form of cadre deployment meant to marginalise other race groups in the workplace.
“The new law is intended to continue the government's commitment to drive transformation and address historical racial inequalities by promoting equity in the workplace,” ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said.
It is intended to ensure that all employees receive equal opportunities and that employees are treated fairly by employers.”
On Wednesday, DA leader John Steenhuisen led a march in Cape Town to protest amendments to the Employment Equity Act which it describes as “the ANC’s new race quotas”.
The Employment Equity Amendment Bill, which has measures to promote diversity and equality in the workplace, was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in April.
The new law requires companies with more than 50 employees to submit equity plans reflecting the demography of the region they operate in and set out how they intend to achieve them.
It also allows for the labour minister to set numerical targets for specific economic sectors.
The DA has argued that not only would the law have an effect on the employability of coloured and Indian citizens, but it believes it would give the ANC enormous power over employment at private companies.
However, the ANC said those who resist “this righteous act” of promoting the restructuring of the workplace proportionately “are showing themselves to be satisfied with the status quo where the economic architecture favours the privileged few at the expense of the majority of South Africans, who remain on the periphery”.
Bhengu-Motsiri said that the DA’s march to Parliament on Wednesday was another stark reminder of how the DA remained fiercely committed to perpetuating racial inequalities and racial prejudice in South Africa.
“The EE Bill passes the constitutional and rationality test. To suggest that it will encourage so-called 'Mafia' groups to control private companies is an outrageous and desperate ploy to appeal to the DA's traditional, conservative voters,” Bhengu-Motsiri said.
Addressing those who marched in Cape Town, Steenhuisen told supporters that if these race quotas were implemented, they would soon see Mafia groups going to private businesses and telling them which cadres to employ, while honest and hard-working South Africans of all backgrounds were pushed even deeper into suffering.
“We’ve already seen how organised Mafias have taken over economic sectors like the construction industry. Mark my words,” he said.
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