Moneyweb reports that a battle is brewing between the construction industry and the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) over recently published regulations under the Employment Equity Amendment Act.
The regulations, published earlier this month, contain controversial provisions, including the imposition of employment equity targets on various sectors of the economy. Stefanutti Stocks CEO Russell Crawford advised last week that the construction industry was preparing a submission to be sent to DEL Minister Thulas Nxesi objecting to the Employment Equity Amendment Act “and the fact the targets set for the construction sector were set without any meaningful consultation or supported by scientific data”. Prior to the amendment, employers were able to choose their own targets based on race, gender and disability provided the plan would result in reasonable progress to correct the effects of past and ongoing discrimination in the work place. However, the draft regulations identify various economic sectors and propose percentage equity targets for each. Consulting Engineers SA (Cesa) CEO Chris Campbell highlighted several challenges regarding the regulations, but added that Casa members were divided regarding their views on the regulations, as some entities were quite happy with the proposed targets while others believed they were not achievable, even within the next five years. He claimed the proposed targets out for public comment were “laughable because some of the targets that have been set don’t add up to 100%”. Constitutional expert Professor Pierre de Vos recently describing the targets in the draft regulations as “an incoherent mess”.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Roy Cokayne at Moneyweb
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