Dear Editor
The DA is ready to begin argument tomorrow in our seminal court action to ensure fair access to jobs and employment for all South Africans.
Our court action, which was launched more than 2 years ago, during the 6th Parliament, argues that the Employment Equity Amendment Act discriminates unfairly and unconstitutionally.
While Section 9.2 of the Constitution allows fair discrimination to achieve redress, such “discrimination” has to meet the benchmark of fairness set out in Section 9. This draconian amendment Act falls far short of this benchmark.
It is grossly unfair and gives totalitarian powers of social engineering to the Minister of Labour, who will be able to set rigid national targets for every economic sector, without any regard to the context of specific firms, and impose extremely heavy fines and the risk of criminal conviction for failure to meet them.
This can no longer be classified as a target. It amounts to an enabling law for the Minister to set rigid quotas, which have previously been found by our courts to be unconstitutional.
If this law is enacted, for example, people belonging to a specific group concentrated in a geographical area, could face exclusion from employment based on national quotas set by the Minister.
The DA is committed to redress for the millions of South Africans who remain economically excluded due to the legacy of our painful past.
We believe the most effective form of redress is a job. The ANC’s Employment Equity regime continues the bitter legacy of the past because it is one of the key factors driving our country’s skyrocketing unemployment rate.
In 2008, unemployment (on the expanded definition) was 5.5-million. By last year it had doubled to 11.1 million.
Jobs are created by companies that invest in South Africa. The draconian labour regime created by the Employment Equity Amendment Act will continue to drive away investment and predictably increase unemployment.
Companies and potential investors have repeatedly cited these social engineering laws as major barriers to investment and growth. It is completely senseless to knowingly intensify a discriminatory regime that has already failed so spectacularly to empower economically marginalised people
This is what the evidence demonstrates. And that is why we will continue to oppose policies keeping millions of people in poverty.
The DA supports a redress system that encourages economic growth, creates hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and significantly improves the education and training system.
Government policy can either encourage real empowerment, or continue to benefit an already empowered elite, increasingly competing over a shrinking number of jobs. We have already learnt where that leads, and we cannot allow ourselves to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
The DA is committed to doing everything we can to build a country where everyone has the opportunity to shape their future on the basis of their ability and hard work, not because the government determines whether and where you can work based on the colour of your skin.
Racial quotas are dehumanising and unjust, because they reduce people to statistics, ignoring talent and effort.
The DA will fight for a future where every South African has a fair shot at a better life.
The DA also has a technical challenge to the Employment Amendment Act, which is that it was incorrectly tagged under Section 75 of the Constitution. This Act will profoundly affect different provinces and therefore should have been tagged under Section 76 of the Constitution.
Regards
Helen Zille
DA Federal Council Chairperson