Employment Equity Commission’s latest report shows that males falling outside the category of ‘black people’ continue to ‘dominate the upper echelons of the corporate hierarchy’. The Minister of Labour has warned that after a grace period of about six months the government will crack down hard on noncompliance with employment equity plans.
Transform or pay penalty, Oliphant tells business: Linda Ensor’ report first published today in BDlive by Business Day.
Excerpts
The commission’s 2015 report showed that whites represented 68.9% of top management last year, down from 70% in 2014. This was more than six times their share of the economically active population.
Indians at 8.6% had a three times greater share than their share of the economically active population.
The African representation rose to 14.3% last year, from 13.6% a year earlier, but both Africans and coloureds, at 4.7%, were under-represented in the private sector.
Male dominance remained largely unchanged, dipping from 79.1% in 2014 to 78.6%. Foreign nationals in top management remained almost unchanged at 3.5% and white females were more represented than women from other racial groups.
Whites in senior management declined slightly over the year from 59.3% to 58.1% and Africans rose from 20.5% to 21.2%.
Strong gains were made by Africans in the professionally qualified category, where their share rose from 36.7% to 41.2%, with whites declining from 41.9% to 38%.
In the skilled technical category, the share of Africans remained stable at about 58%, with whites continuing to be the main beneficiaries of skills development and training. The shares of coloureds and Indians remained largely unchanged in all categories.