ANC slams DA for challenging Employment Equity Amendment Act

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The African National Congress (ANC) says the Democratic Alliance (DA) court challenge to the Employment Equity Amendment Act reveals the party’s enduring opposition to redress and equality.

The DA is challenging the piece of legislation at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, where it argues that it discriminates unfairly and unconstitutionally.

WHY IS THE DA CHALLENGING THE EMPLOYMENT EQUITY AMENDMENT ACT?

Ahead of the court case, the DA said that 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, and the EEAA falls far short of this benchmark.

The party said 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 party’s federal chairperson, Helen Zille, said.

Zille said the Blue Party is committed to redress for the millions of South Africans who remain economically excluded due to the legacy of the country’s 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.”

ANC CRITICISES GNU PARTNER

In response to the court challenge, the ANC said the DA’s decision seeks to undermine the Employment Equity Amendment Act and is not only an affront to the National Constitution, but a direct assault on the very foundation of South Africa’s transformation journey.

The former ruling party said the DA’s campaign to label the piece of legislation as “anti-merit” is a wilful distortion of reality.

“It ignores the brutal legacy of apartheid, which for centuries denied Black South Africans the right to land, quality education, employment, and dignity. In such a context, talking about ‘merit’ without transformation is an insult to the millions who remain excluded,” the ANC said.

“The Employment Equity Act is not about quotas. It is about injustice. It is about correcting structural imbalances in the economy and ensuring that all South Africans have a fair shot at opportunity. Section 15A does not eliminate merit, it creates the conditions in which merit can be meaningfully pursued by addressing the glaring underrepresentation of Africans, Coloured, and Indian South Africans in key sectors of the economy. This is a constitutional imperative, not a political favour,” the party added.