The implementation of the Employment Equity (EE) Amendment Act, No 4 of 2022 came into force on 1 January 2025 – and with the new EE amendments, employers are required to understand the implications of these changes and be agile to adapt and comply.
Once again - the Department of Employment and Labour, the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) and the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) - as part of advocacy initiatives, intend to conduct national workshops/roadshows to engage with various stakeholders in the labour market about the implication(s) of the new legislation.
The 2025 EE workshops will be held under the theme: “Bridging the Equity Gap Through Diversity & Inclusion" . These will be held during the month of May and June 2025 across all nine provinces.
This year's workshops will focus on:
- How to implement the EE Amendments contained in the EE Amendment Act, 2022 and its EE Regulations?
- Five-year Sector EE targets for 18 economic sectors;
- Practical demonstration of how to utilise the EE system online facilities to capture EE reports and request EE Certificate of Compliance; and
- Presentation on discrimination disputes referred to the CCMA and the various Courts, in particular, harassment cases, including dispute resolution mechanisms in terms of the EEA.
South Africa has a legacy of discrimination in relation to race, gender and disability that has resulted in the denial of access to opportunities for education, employment, promotion and wealth creation for the majority of South Africans. The Employment Equity Act was passed to address this legacy.
The CCMA has jurisdiction to conciliate and/arbitrate all unfair workplace discrimination disputes for employees who earn below the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA's) earnings threshold. However, the CCMA has legal mandate to arbitrate all cases of sexual harassment irrespective of whether the employee earns below or above the BCEA threshold.
The key objectives of the EE amendments are:
- To reduce the regulatory burden for small employers – that is, those employers that employ between 1 to 49 employees, are now excluded from complying with the provisions of Chapter III of the EE Act since 1 January 2025;
- To empower the Minister to regulate the sector specific numerical EE targets;
- To promulgate Section 53; and
- To strengthen compliance through the issuing of EE compliance certificates.
The implications of this legislative reform means that as from 1 September 2025, when employers submit their 2025 EE reports they will have to do so in line with the new legislation.
Key in the implementation of the new amendments and regulations is the setting of five-year sector EE targets, the enhancement of EE System, how to request EE Certificate of Compliance to be able to conduct business with the State.
The EE Act came into operation in 1998 with the purpose to achieve equity in the workplace by – promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination; and implementation of affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups – in order to ensure their equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels in the workforce.
However, South Africa's workplaces still mirror Apartheid segregation, whereby the racially oppressed groups remain perched at the bottom and the white population occupy the upper levels of management control.
The national series of workshops/roadshows start on 06 May 2025 ending on 18 June 2025, with venues to be confirmed.
The schedule of 2025 national workshops is as follows:
Gauteng
- West Rand / Vaal (06 May 2025)
- Johannesburg (07 May 2025)
- Pretoria (08 May 2025)
Western Cape
- Mossel Bay / George (13 May 2025)
- Cape Town (15 May 2025)
Eastern Cape
- East London (20 May 2025)
- Gqeberha (22 May 2025)
KwaZulu-Natal
- Pietermaritzburg (27 May 2025)
- Durban (29 May 2025)
Free State
- Welkom (03 June 2025)
- Bloemfontein (04 June 2025)
Limpopo
- Thohoyandou (03 June 2025)
- Polokwane (05 June 2025)
Mpumalanga
- Nelspruit (10 June 2025)
- Witbank (Emalahleni) - (12 June 2025)
North West
- Klerksdorp (10 June 2025)
- Rustenburg (12 June 2025)
Northern Cape
- Kimberley (18 June 2025)
The EE workshops are targeted at Employers or Heads of organisations, employees and trade unions, Assigned Senior EE Managers, Consultative EE forum members, Human Resource Managers and Practitioners, Academics, Civil society, and interested stakeholders.
These will be held from 09:00 to 14:00 in the respective venues and members of the media are invited.
More information on the EE workshops, including updates on the venues to be used, will be available on department's and the CCMA's social media platform as well as the Department's website: www.labour.gov.za
For media enquiries, please contact:
Teboho Thejane
Departmental Spokesperson
Cell: 082 697 0694
E-mail: teboho.thejane@labour.gov.za
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