On 6 February 2013, the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), will host Employment Equity Commission (EEC) Hearing: Gender Transformation in the Workplace” at the Constitution Hill, Braamfontein.
This hearing is a result of Mbombela Local Municipality and Msukalingwa Local Municipality having failed to honour the invitation of our hearings held on the 30 to 31 October 2012. They were respectively subpoenaed to appear before Commission in accordance with its powers outlined in the CGE Act. These two municipalities will also bear their own transport costs and the sitting of the hearings. The CGE had drawn a sample of Director Generals (DGs) from the public sector and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) from the private sector, for them to account for the slow pace of gender transformation in the workplace, and inadequate promotion of women with disabilities, gender equality and women empowerment, subsequently the two failed to partook.
The purpose of the hearings in part is contained in the CGE Act that compels the Commission as per its monitoring role to hold public hearings with all organs of the state, the private sector and civil society in order to raise awareness regarding these obligations and demand accountability, identify challenges and develop recommendations to ensure the realisation of gender equality in the workplace.
Objectives of the hearings:
- To assess the impact of the Employment Equity Act (EEA) on women in both the public and private sector, and address institutional and systematic barriers to their economic progress
- To hold public and private sector Directors accountable for non-compliance with the EEA
- To raise awareness on relevant international commitments and the importance of compliance
- To assess what measures have been put in place in the work place to bring about transformation in terms of gender and disability.
- To share experiences and identify challenges faced by CEOs and Director-Generals in the implementation of the EEA
RSVP and enquiries:
Javu Baloyi, CGE Spokesperson
Cell: 083 579 3306
E-mail: javu@cge.org.za
