Winde blasted on job equity

WESTERN CAPE premier Alan Winde’s department has no black men or women in top management, while only two out of 55 employees at senior management level in that department are black.

This means there are only two black people employed in the department out of 61 as of March 31.

The top management in the department was either coloured or white. There were no Indians.

These figures are detailed in the department’s annual report for the 2021/22 financial year and have left the opposition in the provincial parliament seething.

The annual report, released this week, also revealed there were only 94 out of 522 black men and women employed as professionally qualified and experienced specialists and in mid-management.

Meanwhile, at the level of skilled technical and academically qualified workers, junior management, supervisors, foremen, and superintendents, the department employs only 46 black people out of 194.

At the semi-skilled and discretionary decision-making levels, there were only 38 black people out of 109.

Of the 13 unskilled and defined decision-making employees, three were black.

According to Statistics South Africa figures from 2012, the City of Cape Town has a total population of 3.7 million. The population is made up of: coloured 42.4%, black African 38.6%, white 15.7%, Indian/Asian 1.4% and other, 1.9%

Leader of the opposition, Cameron Dugmore wants the department to be investigated by the Employment Equity Commission for race denialism.

He said a narrative that black people were not fit for purpose continued to be driven. “We have reached a total crisis in the Western Cape where there is race denialism. They are not following equity. Employment equity has gotten worse under Winde; it was bad under (former premier Helen) Zille, and in particular, a lot of African senior managers in the education department have left,” Dugmore said.

He said Winde’s department has breached the provincial constitution, which states that the province needs to advance people that have been discriminated against in terms of apartheid. Dugmore said the department had also failed to use opportunities in the time under review to employ black men and women as deputy director generals in the department when there were vacancies.

“The worst is that when you have the number one department having such an unacceptable equity situation, lack of representation at only 3%. This could influence other departments to say that it’s clear that the premier is not taking these things seriously, so why should we, as the Education Department, do the same?” Dugmore said.

Winde’s office, whose department was awarded an unqualified audit by the A-G, said it was “striving to make further progress”.

While Winde’s office confirmed the figures in the report were correct, it said there were 38 senior and top managers “of colour” in the department.

“Enhancing employment equity is a top agenda item and major drive of the Department of the Premier.

“While we have made progress in this regard, we are determined to see even greater progress, and this is a focus area which is monitored closely. In this regard, (the) premier received monthly reports on employment equity.

The premier’s office said the ANC, in “pursuit of their desperate attempt to cling to power by driving race division in our country – are disingenuous”.

“As reported in our annual report session, there are 38 top and senior managers of colour in our department (more than 60%).

“It was also committed there that we are constantly striving to make further progress on this important imperative, as it is our belief that employment equity contributes greatly to the strengthening of our organisation,” the office said.