3% Disability Employment Target

With the 3% disability employment target now embedded in law, The BEE Chamber advises that failure to execute approved Employment Equity plans carries consequences.

Recent coverage of South Africa’s new 3% disability employment target has spotlighted the need for greater inclusion. Yet according to The BEE Chamber, the focus must now shift from planning to delivery.

The 3% target for persons with disabilities applies uniformly across all national economic sectors. It forms part of the Employment Equity Regulations 2025, published by the Department of Employment and Labour on 15 April 2025, which introduced five-year sectoral numerical targets.
The target is mandatory for all designated employers – organisations with 50 or more employees – who were required to align their Employment Equity (EE) plans to both the disability target and the relevant sectoral targets.

“Companies with more than 50 staff should know about the change,” said Mariëtte van Wyk, Head of Human Capital Services at The BEE Chamber. “The 3% disability target is for Employment Equity and has been published some time back. Companies had to create their EE Plans aligned to the new target for people with disabilities as well as the other sectoral targets per race and gender.”

Van Wyk stresses that simply submitting a compliant EE plan is no longer enough. “The question now is whether companies are implementing against the EE plans they have created, and what the implication of not doing so may be,” she said.

Under the Employment Equity Act, designated employers must implement their approved EE plans. Failure to do so without justifiable reasons can result in referral to the Labour Court. Penalties start at R1.5 million or 2% of annual turnover (whichever is greater) and can escalate to 10% of turnover for repeated contraventions.

In addition, a compliance certificate from the Department of Employment and Labour is required for businesses seeking to tender for state contracts. Without it, access to government procurement opportunities is at risk.

“Implementation is where compliance becomes culture,” van Wyk added. “Businesses that treat their EE plans as living documents – with clear accountability, training, and monitoring – not only reduce regulatory risk but also strengthen their B-BBEE scorecard performance and workforce capability.”

With the five-year EE planning cycle now active, van Wyk advises designated employers to conduct an urgent implementation review and, where necessary, partner with specialists to close any gaps before the next annual reporting cycle.

“There are products to support organisations in moving from plan to measurable implementation. The BEE Chamber’s Human Capital solutions include an Employment Equity Plan and Report preparation solution, Employment Equity Committee Training, Employment Equity Staff Training and full Human Capital Programmes that help companies track progress, embed reasonable accommodation measures and drive real disability inclusion within their workforce,” van Wyk concluded.

About The BEE Chamber:
The BEE Chamber was established in 2016 by BEESA (est. 2007) as the next evolution of a B-BBEE consulting partner – not a traditional consultancy. It aims to enable businesses to promote South Africa’s diversity and equity policies, rather than leaving them reliant on isolated sets of complex information. As a group of specialised B-BBEE consultants, The BEE Chamber supports internal capacity and builds its clients’ B-BBEE practices to a level of excellence by using the tools of continuous support and engagement. It provides information, services and software to those practitioners who are responsible for managing a company’s B-BBEE Scorecard. For more information, visit www.bee.co.za

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Author: Mariëtte Van Wyk from CSA Digital on behalf of THE BEE CHAMBER.

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Peta Thornycroft: Peta Thornycroft is a British journalist who has worked for The Times and The Sunday Times. She is known
for her reporting on Africa.