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eNCA
6 days ago
- Business
- eNCA
Calls grow for urgent action to address job losses
Seven months after President Cyril Ramaphosa stood before the nation in his State of the Nation Address and declared that South Africa's 'most urgent task is to grow the economy, create jobs, and reduce poverty,' the country is now in the grip of a deepening employment crisis. On Saturday, Statistics South Africa confirmed that 140,000 jobs were lost between April and June, equating to an average of 46,000 jobs lost each month. The news has prompted growing public frustration and political concern, especially given the silence from the President, his party the ANC, and the Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-largest party in the new Government of National Unity (GNU). 'Business as Usual Is Failing' DA Slams Lack of Urgency Speaking on All Angles, Michael Bagraim, the DA's spokesperson for Employment and Labour, did not mince his words. 'The government is repeating the same failed strategies. For over a decade, I've called for reforms in the labour space. Removing red tape, deregulating, and easing the burden on small businesses. But we're still stuck in an outdated model,' said Bagraim. He highlighted the quarter's job losses as part of a broader, cyclical trend, particularly in tourism-dependent provinces like the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, where seasonal employment typically shrinks. 'That said, seasonal factors don't excuse policy paralysis. There's no innovation, no urgency. While the DA is trying to push reforms from within the GNU, the ANC seems unwilling to abandon approaches that clearly aren't working.' Silence from the Top Despite the scale of the economic blow, there has been no official response from President Ramaphosa nearly 48 hours after the data was released. 'Perhaps he's silent out of embarrassment,' said Bagraim. 'He challenged his ministers two years ago to explain what's blocking job creation in their departments. Yet only DA ministers are doing so.' Bagraim pointed to successes by DA-appointed ministers, including Dean Macpherson, whose department reportedly created 20,000 new jobs, and Dr Leon Schreiber at Home Affairs, who has implemented policy changes aimed at employment growth. Signs of Reform But Are They Enough? Bagraim expressed cautious optimism about discussions underway within NEDLAC (the National Economic Development and Labour Council), which he described as the "engine room" for new labour legislation. 'There's serious talk about freeing small businesses from the heavy burdens of existing labour laws, something we've been advocating for over a decade. You can't govern a spaza shop by the same laws as a supermarket giant.' He also mentioned that the Western Cape, under DA leadership, has managed to reduce its unemployment rate to roughly half the national average, citing deregulation and policy innovation. GNU Holding, but Under Pressure When pressed about what's really happening behind the scenes in the GNU, Bagraim insisted the partnership is functional and producing results, albeit slowly. 'There's progress. GNU is working in principle. Some ANC ministers are starting to listen. The unemployment crisis is too big for political posturing. This is about national survival, not party politics.' He warned, however, that failure to act decisively could lead to social unrest. 'We've seen what unemployment can do, look at the Arab Spring. South Africans want solutions, not speeches.' Turning the Tide Despite the grim numbers, Bagraim ended on a hopeful note, calling for unity, urgency, and less politics. 'Unemployment is not a political issue, it's a humanitarian one. Let's stop blaming and start fixing. The green shoots are there, but we need to water them.'
Daily Maverick
01-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
DA challenges new employment equity targets in court, drawing ire from unions
The DA is again at odds with the government — of which it is a member — this time over the new employment equity targets set by the Department of Labour and Employment. The Democratic Alliance (DA) is preparing for a fresh legal battle with the Government of National Unity (GNU), of which it is a member, over the new employment equity targets set by the Employment Equity Amendment Act. DA MP Michael Bagraim's announcement of the planned legal proceedings comes two weeks after the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) gazetted two sets of employment equity regulations. The party's decision to go to court has been heavily criticised by workers' unions. The new regulations introduce five-year numerical targets for the top four occupational levels (junior, middle, senior and top management) across 18 sectors, ranging from finance to manufacturing. The DEL's 2024 employment equity report found that despite comprising just 7.3% of the population, white workers held 62.1% of all top management positions. In a statement released on Tuesday, Bagraim said the DA had launched a constitutional challenge to section 15A of the amended Act, claiming that it introduced rigid race quotas in the workplace, which would 'destroy jobs, undermine the economy and violate the constitutional rights of all South Africans'. Bagraim, the DA's spokesperson on employment and labour, added that section15A was an abuse of state power in that the powers it gives Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth were 'vague, unchecked and dangerously broad'. Daily Maverick previously reported that Nadeem Mahomed, director of employment at the law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, said the designated group the Act referred to included black people (Africans, coloured people and Indians), women and persons with disabilities, provided they are South African citizens by birth or descent. However, Bagraim claimed that the final quotas would make it 'virtually impossible' for coloured people in the Western Cape and Indian workers in KwaZulu-Natal to find or keep employment. The DA also claims: Section 15A violates section 9 of the Constitution by enabling discrimination based on race. The minister's discretion under Section 15A lacks clear legal standards, contravening the Dawood principle of administrative law. The implementation of demographic targets disproportionately prejudices coloured and Indian communities in certain provinces, particularly the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Exemptions for small businesses and the government's settlement in the Solidarity case suggest an acknowledgement of the potential economic harm of the quotas. Read the DA's founding affidavit here. 'This case is not about resisting redress. It is about protecting people's rights under the Constitution, the rule of law, and the livelihoods of South Africans. 'The DA believes that real redress does not mean implementing policies that bring more division. We believe that true transformation can only be achieved by focusing on inclusive economic growth that creates opportunity for all,' said Bagraim. In response to questions sent by Daily Maverick, DEL chief communications officer Teboho Thejane said: 'Let's let the legal process unfold. Citizens have the constitutional right to address issues in the way they see appropriate. The department follows relevant processes when it comes to legislative framework within its scope.' Several workers' unions had stronger words about the DA's legal challenge. 'Spurious attack' On Tuesday, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) released a strongly worded statement expressing its 'dismay' at the DA's 'spurious attack on employment equity. 'It is alarming that the DA court papers are premised upon fake news about the Act and its regulations. Nowhere in either does it provide for any worker, of any colour or gender, to lose their job. None. Any statement claiming they do should be taken as seriously as the flat-earth hysteria on social media. 'Employment equity and transformation remains an extremely emotive matter for all workers and should be handled with the necessary care and sensitivity and not used to score likes on social media,' said Cosatu parliamentary coordinator Matthew Parks. Parks said the amendments to the Act sought to strike a fair balance between easing administrative burdens on SMMEs reflecting SA's demographic diversity and pushing employers to do better to ensure all employees had a 'fair chance to fulfil their full potential'. 'The regulations provide ample time, eg, five years, and modest targets, well below population demographics, for employers to work towards. As with all laws, exemptions are provided for employers who have tried, but, for a variety of reasons, cannot achieve their targets,' said Parks. He added that the union was confident that the case would be dismissed as 'legal adventurism'. General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (Giwusa) said the union strongly condemned the DA's litigation. 'Ultimately, it reflects the commitment within the DA to roll back the progress made with respect to transformation, and it also reveals the character of the DA. The fact that the DA is not concerned with the dominance of white people in the top echelons of the corporate ladder in many sectors of the industry of this country says a lot,' said Giwusa's Mametlwe Sebei. Sebei said that employment equity had been instrumental in ensuring that all levels in organisations were reflective of SA's diverse demography. However, he noted that there was resistance, particularly in the private sector, where operational and top management were predominantly white. 'That is the reason that it is absolute hogwash for the DA to keep insisting that economic growth and the opening of education opportunities, all of which are important, on and by themselves would address this issue. If that were so, we would not have had the lack of representation and exclusion of black people from the management of industry and public service,' added Sebei.
Eyewitness News
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
DA takes government to court over Employment Equity Act
CAPE TOWN - The Democratic Alliance is again taking the government to court, but this time to challenge the Employment Equity Act. The party's labour and employment spokesperson, Michael Bagraim, said the party will be heading to court to challenge the law next week. Bagraim said Section 15A of the Act gives the minister unchecked power to enforce what he calls "rigid quotas". READ: Only 34% of companies inspected in 2024 complied with Employment Equity Act, says Labour Dept He said the section represents a radical and harmful departure from previous Employment Equity law. "We don't have a race register anymore in this country and it's a good thing. Now the Department of Employment and Labour is trying to force people to go back and register themselves in terms of race. It's destroying businesses, it's destroying investment and has not worked as legislation for 25 years."
Mail & Guardian
29-04-2025
- Business
- Mail & Guardian
DA to fight employment equity law in court
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has filed an application in the Pretoria high court challenging the employment equity quotas in the Employment Equity Amendment Act which it says are merely 'racial exclusion under a new name'. (Photo by Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu via Getty Images) The Democratic Alliance (DA) has filed an application in the Pretoria high court challenging the employment equity quotas in the Employment Equity Amendment Act which it says are merely 'racial exclusion under a new name'. It sets hiring quotas for 18 economic sectors, from mining and transport to construction and agriculture, in a bid to increase employment opportunities for 'designated groups' including blacks, women and people living with disabilities. Companies with 50 or more employees must align their employment equity plans with the new sector-specific targets and these must be implemented between 1 September 2025 and 31 August 2030. Bagraim said his party had launched a 'constitutional challenge' to Section 15A of the Act, which introduces 'rigid national race quotas' in The law is one of several pieces of legislation and policies the government has implemented since the fall of apartheid in 1994 in what it says is a drive to reverse the racial inequalities which favoured white people. 'We are taking the minister of employment and labour to court because Section 15A represents a radical and harmful departure from previous employment equity law. These quotas will destroy jobs, undermine the economy and violate the constitutional rights of all South Africans,' Bagraim said. Section 15A represented a 'radical and harmful' departure from previous employment 'Where companies once set their own equity goals, based on context and the available labour force, they are now compelled to meet government-imposed demographic targets, regardless of skills, local realities or business viability,' Bagraim said. 'It is about protecting people's rights under the Constitution, the rule of law and the livelihoods of South Africans. The DA believes that real redress does not mean implementing policies that bring more division. We believe that true transformation can only be achieved by focusing on inclusive economic growth that creates opportunity for all.' He said the legal argument against the amendment was two-fold, focusing on 'constitutional invalidity' and 'abuse of state power'. 'Section 15A violates Section 9 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law and prohibits unfair discrimination. A law that forces employers to fire or refuse to hire people based on race, whether they are black, coloured, Indian or white, is not redress. It is unconstitutional discrimination,' Bagraim said. He added that the minister's powers under Section 15A were 'vague, unchecked and dangerously broad'. 'The so-called 'targets' are not guidelines — they are 'This is not just a theoretical concern. The final quotas, published last week, make it virtually impossible for some communities, particularly coloured workers in the Western Cape and Indian workers in 'This isn't transformation. It is Bagraim said the government had 'tacitly' admitted that the quotas were damaging by exempting businesses with fewer than 50 employees. 'Our court action will expose the real issue — the problem is not the quotas themselves but the law that enables them. That is why we are challenging Section 15A directly, not just quotas that flow from it. Every law must be judged on whether it grows the economy and creates jobs. These quotas fail that test spectacularly. 'We are standing up for the right of every South African to be employed on the basis of their skill, character and contribution — not the colour of their skin. And we will not stop until this unconstitutional law is overturned.
