Government-led initiatives to bring about employment equality in South Africa and remove the training, pay and job-opportunity inequalities encouraged under apartheid first came into effect in 1998. With 14 years to introduce changes, SHARON DAVIS investigates how far we are from ending white male domination in the workplace.

In 1994, when the ANC came into power, it inherited an economy and labour force characterised by unfair race- and gender-based discrimination. Employment equity and black economic empowerment (BEE) were introduced as a means to redress this.

Rather than focusing on the longer-term approach of providing equal skills, which would have levelled the playing field and allowed people of all races to compete on equal terms, the ANC focused on employment quotas, encouraging affirmative action appointments and preferential procurement for companies with the ‘right’ racial demographics.

This created a new black middle class, made up of those fortunate enough to have a good education and/or be well connected. But for the struggling masses, transformation has been slow to non-existent as a lack of skills in a labour market with an unemployment rate of 25% – or over 40%, if you include discouraged work seekers – makes it difficult to find paying work, let alone a top job.

A look at the employment stats

Whites still dominate top and senior management positions, according to the Commission for Employment Equity’s (CEE) 2011 annual report. And, despite more than 10 years of BEE, whites are likely to continue to do so “unless we change our recruitment, promotion and skills development trends”, the report states.

Whites occupy 73.1% of all top management posts, down slightly from 74.9% in 2006 but still at least six times their representation in the economically active population. Men occupy 81.1% of these posts, nearly double their demographic representation.

At senior management level, the figures are better, but also indicate the need for ongoing transformation. Whites hold 64.1% of posts at this level, down from 70.9% in 2006 but still more than five times their demographic representation. Meanwhile, blacks hold 17.6% of senior management posts, up from 13.4% in 2006, but still fill less than a quarter of the jobs they should fill, based on population numbers.

White males hold 90% of the CEO positions of JSE-listed companies, according to Business Unity South Africa. And the Women in Corporate Leadership Census, conducted by the Businesswomen’s Association, shows female representation of senior executives at only 2.5% – holding eight positions out of 318.

The CEE report shows that males occupy 70.7% of senior management positions, and notes that white women are the most likely to be employed at senior and top management level, potentially benefiting most from the employment equity drive.

There are many heart-warming stories of successful promotions, effective mentoring and training and lucrative BEE business partnerships, and the statistics show that South Africa’s labour market is slowly transforming as more Africans become professionally qualified (now 31% of all economically active Africans, up from 20.2% in 2006) or skilled (now 51% of all economically active Africans, up from 39.2% in 2006). But transformation to date has not been broad-based – and government, along with many from the previously disadvantaged sector, considers the rate of progress too slow.

Amendment of the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act

The government is in the process of amending the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act in a bid to speed up transformation and encourage private sector companies to comply with employment equity targets. But, given that it is economic suicide to make a top-level BEE appointment if the person does not have the requisite skills and experience, one needs to ask whether we’re trying to fast-track a process that can’t be rushed.

Our parastatals are a case in point. The latest South Africa Survey, produced by the South African Institute for Race Relations (SAIRR), points out that the composition of upper management in most South African parastatals fails to reflect the demographics of the country.

It reports that Africans hold 50% or more of management roles in only three parastatals and, in some parastatals, only hold 10% of management positions. The SAIRR notes that private companies could not be expected to comply with the Employment Equity Act when parastatals do not, and points out that more red tape and heavier fines for companies that fail to comply with employment equity laws will discourage investment and growth, be counterproductive and reduce employment opportunities in the long run.

The SAIRR also suggests that the underlying issue is more one of the availability of skilled personnel, than the willingness to comply with employment equity and BEE legislation.

Are we using the right tools?

The policies selected to affect transformation of South Africa’s labour market have been criticised as being discriminatory and ineffective, of encouraging cronyism, and of promoting token roles for blacks, without providing the necessary training and mentoring needed to create lasting and meaningful transformation… and it begs the question: are we using the right tools?

According to research by senior lecturer Rulof Burger and associate professor Rachel Jafta from Stellenbosch University’s economics department: “The effects of affirmative action policies in reducing employment or wage gaps have been marginal at best.” Burger and Jafta claim that improved access to education played a more significant role.

In analysing data, they found a small narrowing at the very top of the wage distribution, suggesting that affirmative action may have improved the lot of “individuals from the designated groups who already found themselves higher up on the skills ladder”. The benefit was deemed to be too small, and concentrated on too few individuals, to have benefited the average previously disadvantaged individual.

Is education equality the solution?

The Department of Labour commissioned research by the sociology of work unit at the University of Witwatersrand on tracking the progress of the implementation and impact of employment equity since its inception. The 2008 research report stated that employment equity “remains lacklustre” and noted that: “Companies that have aggressively implemented targets, such as Eskom, have had to suffer the consequences of rising levels of incompetence.”

The researchers found evidence to support claims that there is a shortage of suitably qualified candidates, and raised concerns over the “uneven quality produced by our education system”.

They recommended a shift to address employment equity at an industry level, since labour markets are sector-specific, and to shift the focus from administrative compliance to active labour market interventions – specifically on the supply side of the market – to ensure that there are adequately trained people to fill positions as they become available.

Human rights activist and social commentator, Rhoda Kadalie, perhaps sums it up best: “We can't put right the results of apartheid education overnight.” In her view, we need to be patient and put economic growth ahead of affirmative action until we are able to employ qualified blacks and women. She’s not against transformation, but considers it a human rights violation to put incompetent people in powerful positions.