M Mdladlana: Launch of Commission for Employment Equity Annual
Report

11 September 2006

Programme Director
Director-General of Labour
Chairperson and members of the Commission for Employment Equity
Government officials
Members of the press
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

Allow me to thank the Commission for Employment Equity for its sixth annual
report. Employment equity trends from the annual report that have just been
outlined by the Chairperson of the Commission are of concern to me, and I am
sure to the majority of the population as well. Progress thus far has been very
slow.

Although some employers may have made huge strides in implementing
employment equity, the overall picture remains bleak. If we continue at this
pace we would most probably reach equitable workplaces only in forty to fifty
years from now. For example, an increase at top management level of blacks by
2,1% and an increase of women by 4,6% may appear to be relatively good, but
this increase averaged over a five year period is actually dismal. What are
most disconcerting is the decrease of Black representation by 11,5% and an
increase of women by only 0,2% at the Professionally Qualified and Middle
Management level.

Another alarming trend is the increase of the representation of people with
disabilities from 0,9% in 2001 to 1,8% in 2005. At a glance this illustrates a
100% increase in their representation, but upon closer examination one should
realise that this increase is very small in actual numbers.

I am tired of hearing that there is an insufficient pool of suitably
qualified people from the designated groups, particularly people with
disabilities. The question employers should be asking themselves is what are
they doing to ensure that there are a sufficient number of suitably qualified
people from the designated groups, especially when employers have enabling
legislation such as the Skills Development Act. We must all remember that
barriers to employment and the work environment, in most cases, were not there
we put them there. We therefore carry the responsibility to remove them.

What I find to be very disturbing in the report is the declining trend in
reporting by employers. May I remind designated employers that when they
refrain from submitting their employment equity reports, they are in breach of
the law? All designated employers are required to consult with their employees,
conduct an audit and analysis of their workplaces, prepare an employment equity
plan and submit an employment equity report to the Department of Labour.

In order to address the challenges that have been highlighted, my department
has developed responses to address them, which includes making inspectors more
vigilant on employment equity matters. The Employment Equity (EE) Regulations
have been amended to, amongst other things, gather more data and to ensure that
employers fully and accurately complete their employment equity reports before
submitting them to the department. In fact, may I add, those employers who do
not accurately and fully complete their reports before submitting them to the
Department would be deemed to have not reported.

My department has also developed an employment equity system that would be
in operation for the October 2006 reporting period onwards, which would be able
to provide not only an analysis of data from reports received by all employers,
but with a separate analysis of data in terms of sectors, Sector Education and
Training Authorities (SETAs) and government and non-government employers. This
will assist for benchmarking purposes and, most importantly, to identify and
verify where the real change is actually taking place. Most probably, the
little increase in representivity at the upper occupational levels is mainly
due to the positive changes in the Public Service and State Owned Enterprises
(SOEs). Actually if one were to only home-in on the private sector, the
increase or decrease in the representation of the designated groups might be
frightening.

A key introduction in my department for this year is the Director-General’s
(DG) Review of employment equity at work places. A system has been developed
for this purpose. This system equips the department to assess the extent to
which designated groups are represented in the various occupational levels at
each employer’s workplace. The representation of the designated groups is
measured using a numerical analysis model and the progress of employers is
rated as either being ‘equitable’, ‘reasonable’ or ‘unacceptable’. Reviews are
mainly done on employers whose representation levels are deemed to be
‘unacceptable’ in terms of this model.

Out of the 2 762 reports received in 2005, 2 085 reports were analysed
because they were complete and accurate. My department has assessed and ranked
only the 2 085 reports using the Numerical Analysis model to determine the
level of representation of the designated groups across all occupational
levels. Included in this assessment and ranking, 55 were large companies listed
at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). As I speak to you today, for the
first time, DG reviews are in the process of being conducted on six employers
whose representation levels fell in the unacceptable category.

They include:

* Omnia group limited
* Medi-clinic group
* Verimark Holdings (PTY) LTD
* Prism Holdings
* Comair Limited
* Kumba Resources

In addition to the above, my department is also following-up on 1 296 large
employers who appear on our database, but did not submit their reports in 2005.
A list of these employers has been sent to the provinces for inspection.
Included in this list, is the names of 13 large companies listed at the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) who failed to submit reports in 2005 as
required by the law. Furthermore, I have instructed the labour inspectors to
continuously be on the lookout for those culprits who have not reported at
all.

I have been advised by the Commission for Employment Equity that they intend
issuing awards to employers for their excellent achievement in implementing the
Employment Equity Act. These awards are due to take place in August 2007. It
would be unfair to condemn all employers for the progress that they are making
in implementing the Act. I believe that we all carry the responsibility to
recognise and reward those employers who excel in implementing the spirit and
the letter of the Act.

Thank you to the Commission for Employment Equity for its hard work, and all
of you for being here today

Enquiries:
Mokgadi Pela
Cell: 082 808 2168
E-mail: mokgadi.pela@labour.gov.za

Issued by: Department of Labour
11 September 2006
Source: Department of Labour (http://www.labour.gov.za)