The Government of National Unity (GNU) is once again under intense scrutiny after the DA has hauled the ANC-led government to court over the Employment Equity Amendment Act.
The court case that began on Tuesday in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, lists Minister of Employment and Labour Nomakhosazana Meth as the first respondent.
In its court papers as the applicant, the DA contends the amendments replace a context-sensitive approach, where employers set their numerical targets for employment equity, with a rigid, one-size-fits-all system of minister-determined targets. Non-compliance could result in severe penalties.
The DA argues this violates Section 9 of the Constitution, which governs equality and affirmative action. While Section 9(2) permits affirmative action, it must be approached cautiously and not unduly infringe on dignity or establish absolute barriers.
The DA asserts the Amendment Act’s mandatory targets are blunt and rigid, potentially amounting to unconstitutional quotas.
Furthermore, the DA claims the Amendment Act is entirely invalid due to incorrect tagging during the parliamentary process. Bills substantially affecting provinces should follow Section 76 of the Constitution, but this Bill was passed under Section 75.
The DA details the current Employment Equity Act’s requirements for designated employers to analyse workforce representation, create context-specific equity plans with numerical goals (excluding quotas), and implement them saying these obligations are enforceable.
DA Federal Executive Chairperson Helen Zille said the party is committed to redressing the millions of economically excluded South Africans due to the legacy of apartheid.
However, she believes the most effective form of redress is a job, and the ANC’s Employment Equity regime is driving the country’s skyrocketing unemployment rate.
“In 2008, unemployment was 5.5 million. By last year, it had doubled to 11.1 million,” Zille said.
The DA’s court action argues that the Amendment Act discriminates unfairly and unconstitutionally, giving the Minister of Labour excessive powers to set rigid national targets for every economic sector without considering specific firm contexts.
Zille said this could lead to exclusion from employment based on national quotas set by the minister, which is manifestly unfair to certain groups, such as Indians in KwaZulu-Natal or coloured people in the Western Cape.
DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille said the party is ready to begin an argument on the Employment Equity Amendment Act on Tueday.
Responding to the court action, Minister Meth expressed dismay at the DA’s challenge, stating that it is a clear attempt to reverse progress made since 1994 and maintain the unfair status quo.
“The Amendment Act empowers the minister to set numerical targets for equitable representation after consulting relevant sectors and with the advice of the Commission,” Meth said.
She further emphasised that the Amendment Act introduces flexible employment equity targets, allowing designated employers to set annual numerical targets in their employment equity plans, which must follow sectoral targets.
She accused the DA of sabotaging transformation goals pursued since the end of apartheid.
ANC secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, described the DA’s court action as hatred for transformation, as is evident through this court action.
“We will stand with Cosatu (the Congress of South African Trade Unions), the South African Communist Party (SACP), and all progressive formations in resisting this desperate assault by the DA,” Mbalula said.
He said that through this Act, the DA was drifting from the spirit of the GNU and positioning itself outside the project of nation-building and shared prosperity.
“Transformation, equity, and diversity are not up for negotiations. We will not surrender to elitist apartheid nostalgia or legal posturing,” Mbalula said.
There have been growing calls for the ANC to divorce the DA from the GNU, with the latest calls coming from the ANC parliamentary caucus, saying the party should move on, adding speculation on the future of the GNU.
A source within the ANC revealed that most within the National Executive Committee were calling for the ANC leadership to fire the DA from the GNU.
The two parties have been at loggerheads over the past months on various topics, with the latest disagreement seeing the DA winning the battle over the increase in the Value-Added-Tax (VAT), which the ANC had been advocating for.
Minister of Employment and Labour, Nomakhosazana Meth.
The two parties have also disagreed on the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act and the National Health Insurance Fund Bill.
However, Zille said the DA is not in the GNU to please the ANC or anyone else but to make the most significant impact.
“The only people we are trying to please are our current and future voters,” she added.
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