City Press reports that government is pinning its hopes on the pending Employment Equity Amendment Bill to allow it to speed up transformation in the workplace.  

Stronger legislation and an increase in enforcement in workplaces are just some of the interventions the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) hopes will change the poor state of transformation in the SA labour market.  Speaking after the recent release of the Employment Equity (EE) report, labour minister Thulas Nxesi said the DEL was hoping that the passing of the bill, which was currently in Parliament, and increasing the number of inspectors would assist in changing the bleak situation.  “Our intention is to resuscitate legislation that could not go through [Parliament].  We hope Parliament will prioritise the bills because their amendments were at an advanced stage,” Nxesi said.  Among the major amendments Nxesi hopes will get the green light is the review of section 53 of the act that will require the issuing of an annual certificate of compliance to organisations doing business with the state and its organs.  The EE report, which was officially handed to Nxesi by Commission for Employment Equity chairperson Tabea Kabinde, shows that white men, despite being a minority, remain the majority in top management positions across the country.  At least 65.5% of the positions in senior management were occupied by the whites, followed by Africans at 15.1%, Indians at 9.7%, coloureds at 5.3% and foreign nationals at 3.4%.  The most untransformed sector, according to the report, was agriculture which still has white men occupying 72% of top management positions.

• Read the full original of the above report by Lesetja Malope at City Press

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