Affirmative action progress slow

EMPLOYMENT equity legislation has not yet achieved its objectives in South Africa, and the process is slow, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant said yesterday.

She stressed, however, that while the increase in the representation of blacks and women in the middle to upper levels of business, government and other organisations was small at this stage, it would not have been possible without the Employment Equity Act.

The minister’s comments were contained in a written reply to a parliamentary question by Congress of the People MP Diratsagae Kganare.

Replying to another question, by Freedom Front Plus MP Anton Alberts, on whether the affirmative action policy was a permanent feature of South Africa’s constitutional democracy, Oliphant said she did not see the need for a sunset clause for the affirmative action provisions of the Employment Equity Act.

This, she said, was because of the “slow progress of transformation” of the labour market and the fact that affirmative action had not been implemented to the full satisfaction of the constitution.

“Whether affirmative action will be a permanent feature of the constitutional democracy is mainly dependent on the action taken by those with the economic power to bring about change and transformation in their workplaces by creating working environments that are free from unfair discrimination and filled with equal opportunities for all, irrespective of race, gender, disability, marital status and so forth,” Oliphant said.