Jobs equity at snail’s pace
HIS YEAR, the first class of Born Frees will matriculate; these are the first South Africans to be educated in a democratic country, where their race was not held against them – legally. The problem is that they will be entering a job market where the transition over the past 18 years has not been as profound.
This week, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant released the 12th annual Commission for Employment Equity report. In short, white men continue to dominate top management at 55 percent. In the private sector, white men’s dominance soars to 65 percent, with Africans rising to almost 19 percent.
The figures stand in sharp contrast to the situation in government, where African men occupy 45 percent of all top management posts, followed by white males at 12 percent. Although it is not stated, women too are far better represented in government than in the private sector.
The question is: What is the correct remedy to ensure meaningful transformation?
The Labour Department wants punitive measures, fines of anything up to 10 percent of an employer’s annual turnover, while Solidarity – a predominantly white trade union – believes this isn’t the answer for the government’s “failed ideology of absolute racial representation”. It’s not offering a solution, unfortunately. The one thing that doesn’t seem open to question is the fact that the employment equity effort has been a failure – it has taken place, but neither at the rate nor the scope that was expected.
The question is: How should the government enforce compliance with its necessary laws to ensure the poor of Marikana and elsewhere do not feel as excluded as they do now – without driving struggling businesses off the precipice?
Managing change is a tricky business. The pangs of change could lead to resistance.
Expectedly, the transformation of our economy is a burning issue, but it’s not just about changing the deckchairs; it’s about creating viable companies in as much as it is about including black people who feel that the fruits of democracy are elusive. This is why our country needs incentives – and penalties – to achieve equity.
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