The Democratic Alliance’s legal team has launched a scathing constitutional attack against the Employment Equity Amendment Act, calling it overly rigid and unconstitutional.
Advocate Ismail Jamie argued that what was once a balanced approach to workplace diversity has now become a rigid system of racial targets.
The DA and the national unity government, of which it is a part, faced off in the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday in a legal battle over the Employment Equity Amendment Act.
Jamie argued that what was once a balanced and rational approach to workplace transformation has been replaced by an inflexible system of racial targets, dictated by the Labour Minister.
“Under the original Act, employers were required to create equity plans, which were then monitored and enforced by the Director-General or the Labour Court, along with fines where necessary.
“This framework respected the constitutional boundary between aspirational targets and rigid quotas.
“The Amendment Act crosses that line. It replaces flexibility with a blunt system that, if not a quota outright, amounts to one. That level of rigidity is not permitted by the Constitution.”
He added that the amendment gives sweeping powers to the minister to set numerical targets, broken down by race, gender, and even geography, shifting away from what he described as a constitutionally sound structure.
“A careful, considered approach to achieving representativeness has now been replaced by ministerial authority to set targets across provinces and race groups,” Jamie added.
” If companies fail to meet these requirements, they are in violation of the Act. Even if the minister has since backtracked on some targets, the structure remains unconstitutional.”.
The DA’s court action, originally launched over two years ago, specifically challenges Section 15a of the Employment Equity Amendment Act of 2022.
The party contends the section gives the Minister of Employment and Labour unchecked authority to impose rigid demographic quotas on companies with more than 50 employees.
DA Federal Council chair Helen Zille echoed the party’s legal concerns, warning that the law could worsen unemployment by driving away investment and penalising businesses.
“Jobs in South Africa should be based on skill and merit, not race, gender, or disability.
” It is grossly unfair and gives totalitarian powers of social engineering to the minister, who can impose rigid national quotas for every sector, regardless of the unique context of each business. This can no longer be called a ‘target’; it’s a quota.”
Zille warned that communities concentrated in certain provinces could face exclusion from jobs based on national demographic goals.
“The DA supports redress for the millions still economically excluded due to our past, but this law is anti-transformative. It chases away investors and worsens poverty by creating a hostile business environment.
“Racial quotas are dehumanising and unjust. They reduce people to statistics and ignore talent and effort.”
The DA is also mounting a technical challenge, arguing that the Act was incorrectly passed as a Section 75 bill, which applies to national matters.
The party contends it should have been processed under Section 76, which involves the provinces, due to its impact on regional employment demographics.
In response, Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth labelled the DA’s court action as “a clear attempt to halt transformation and preserve historical inequalities.”
“By opposing these amendments, the DA is actively sabotaging the transformation goals pursued since the end of apartheid. This stance is not only anti-transformation but a step backwards in the fight for workplace equality.”
The department argues that the law does not impose rigid quotas but rather “flexible sectoral targets” set through consultation.
Employers can justify non-compliance on reasonable grounds, and these measures do not constitute unfair discrimination under section 2 of the Act.
“The DA’s claim that the section 15a scheme is unconstitutional ignores the flexibility built into the system and the legal safeguards that prevent arbitrary application,” said the minister.