Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2025, publiée 114ème session CIT (2026)

Convention (n° 111) concernant la discrimination (emploi et profession), 1958 - Afrique du Sud (Ratification: 1997)

Articles 1, 2 and 5 of the Convention. Discrimination based on race, colour and national extraction. Affirmative Action. In its report, the Government refers to the latest employment equity (EE) data from the 2022 EE reporting cycle, which shows that the White population group accounts for 62.9 per cent of top management positions, despite representing only 8 per cent of the Economically Active Population (EAP). The Indian population group represents 11.2 per cent at this level, with an EAP of 2.7 per cent. In contrast, the African population group, which constitutes 80 per cent of the EAP, holds only 16.9 per cent of top management positions, while the Coloured population group, with an EAP of 9.3 per cent, accounts for just 6.1 per cent at this level. This pattern of disproportionate representation persists across other occupational levels, particularly with respect to the White population group, which constitutes 50.1 per cent of senior management, 30 per cent of professionally qualified and middle management, and 16.2 per cent of skilled technical and junior management positions.

The Government observes that despite all the continuous interventions to promote the implementation of affirmative action and non-discrimination in employment policies and practices, the labour market continues to be racialized and gendered, particularly at top and senior management levels of the workforce, due to the fact that the ownership of most businesses (known as designated employers) in South Africa still remains White and male-dominated. The Government indicates that with respect to the assessment of implementation of affirmative action in the labour market, the labour inspectors have conducted 4,725 EE inspections, which include EE procedural inspections and Director-General of Labour and Employment Reviews in the 2022–23 period. However, the pace of transformation in the labour market still remains slow, and at this rate it will take many years to reach equitable representation in the labour market at all occupational levels. The Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) remains committed towards facilitating regulatory compliance for the elimination of unfair discrimination and implementation of affirmative action measures to increase and manage the fair representation of designated groups at all occupation levels, managing diversity and identifying barriers to fair employment. The Government refers to the intervention put forward by the CEE to the Minister to strengthen compliance through the introduction of the EE Amendment Bill to, among other things, set 5-year sector targets as building blocks towards achieving a more representative workforce that reasonably reflects the demographics of the country.

With respect to eliminating unfair discrimination in employment, the Government indicates that racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance are grounds covered under unfair discrimination pursuant to section 6(1) of the Employment Equity Act (EEA). It further states that in accordance with section 9 of the EEA, an applicant for an employment is deemed to be an employee and, therefore, any employee or job applicant that alleges unfair discrimination based on ethnicity or social origin may refer their case to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) or the labour courts, pursuant to section 10 of the EEA. While noting this information, the Committee, however, observes that the Government has not provided information on the actions taken within the framework of the National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, 2019–24, the obstacles identified and the results achieved.

In relation to the issuance of the Certificate of Compliance under section 53 of the EEA, the Government indicates that the commencement date of this section, amended by the EE Amendment Act No. 4 of 2022, had not been promulgated yet. The Committee notes that, since the submission of the Government’s report, this Act has entered into force, on 1 January 2025.

In view of the above, the Committee asks the Government to continue to strengthen its efforts in promoting equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation of all the designated groups and to provide information on: (i) the results achieved in the transformation of the labour market towards a more equitable representation of the designated groups; and (ii) the assessment of its affirmative action measures (in particular of the 5-year sectoral numerical targets for designated employers introduced in the EE Amendment Act No. 4 of 2022), with a view to determining whether they remain effective and are in line with the principle of non-discrimination.

The Committee reiterates its request to the Government to specify (i) the actions taken within the framework of the National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, 2019–24, the obstacles identified and the results achieved; and (ii) the impact of the implementation of section 53 of the EEA as amended (measures put in place to evaluate the assessment criteria for the issuance of employment equity compliance certificates and the number of certificates denied based on this assessment).

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.