This article was first published in GroundUp on 21 July 2025 as part of its new debate series.
South Africa’s new employment equity targets have provoked resistance from those who benefit from preserving the status quo. But contrary to alarmist claims, these targets do not undermine merit-based employment: far from being a trade-off against excellence, diversity is a catalyst for it.
More than two decades after the 1998 Employment Equity Act, workplace inequality remains deeply entrenched, particularly in the private sector, where black people, women, and people with disabilities are still under-represented in management and leadership.
To address this, the newly gazetted Employment Equity Regulations introduce five-year, sector-specific targets for designated groups across 18 economic sectors. These targets operationalise the much-contested Section 15A of the Employment Equity Amendment Act, 2022, which empowers the Minister of Employment and Labour to identify national economic sectors and, following consultation, set targets to ensure equitable representation of suitably qualified people from designated groups at all occupational levels.
Much of the public backlash has been shaped by imported American rhetoric that pits “merit” against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), creating a false dichotomy. This ignores the true aim of employment equity: not to promote the unqualified, but to dismantle barriers which have long excluded qualified candidates from opportunity.
Data from the 24th Commission for Employment Equity Annual Report (2023/24) paints a stark picture. African, Coloured and Indian South Africans together comprise roughly 92% of the economically active population yet occupy less than a third of top management roles in the private sector. In contrast, white South Africans, who make up less than 8% of the economically active population, hold nearly two thirds of top management and more than half of senior management roles.
The gender gap is just as troubling: women make up 46% of the economically active population, yet hold only 27% of top management positions.
In government, white people occupy nearly 9% of top management and more than 10% of senior management posts.
These statistics expose the dominance of a demographic minority in leadership, particularly in the private sector. The real issue is not government over-reach, but years of government leniency. Businesses were given the space to determine their own transformation pathways and set their own targets. They failed to deliver.
Instead of seizing diversity as a strategic advantage, many companies reduced it to a tick-box exercise. They viewed transformation as a compliance requirement rather than an opportunity for innovation, improved performance and stronger human capital management. Yet, as the JSE Sustainability Disclosure Guidance (2022) suggests, “organisations with higher levels of diversity, particularly within executive teams, are generally better able to innovate, attract top talent, improve their customer orientation, enhance employee satisfaction, access more wide-ranging networks, and secure their licence to operate”. This underscores what many South African businesses have failed to grasp: that diversity is a catalyst for excellence.
Opponents often conflate targets with quotas, fuelling public anxiety and misinformation. Yet the law draws a clear distinction. The Employment Equity Act explicitly states in section 15(3) that affirmative action includes “preferential treatment and numerical goals” but excludes “quotas”. This couldn’t be more clear.
Section 15’s emphasis on “suitably qualified” individuals emphasises that merit must remain central to hiring and promotion decisions. Employment equity measures are not about displacing competence. They are about ensuring that qualified people from historically marginalised groups are given the opportunities they have long been denied.
Section 15(4) prohibits absolute barriers to employment for other people, and the regulations confirm that affirmative action cannot justify dismissals.
Claims that Section 15 violates constitutional rights by enforcing racial exclusion are not only legally unfounded: they are part of a pseudo anti-racist rhetoric which claims a concern for fairness but is really about preserving entrenched privilege.
The Employment Equity regulations provide that employers with justifiable grounds can qualify for exemptions from compliance with sectoral targets.
Those who argue that economic growth alone will solve racial disparities overlook the legacy of exclusion that shapes today’s economy. These critics frame DEI initiatives as a threat, caricature affirmative action as “reverse racism”, and strip the conversation of its historical and legal context.
Employment equity targets are not about retribution or exclusion. They are a measured, legal and necessary step to realise the vision of our Constitution: a more inclusive, fair and prosperous South Africa. If we are serious about shared growth, we must confront the inequalities that still define our workplaces, and commit to correcting them with urgency.
IMAGE: Erik Mclean, Unsplash
