Employment Equity Commission evades IRR questions on race classification

The Commission on Employment Equity (CEE) has avoided detailed questions on racial classification put to it by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR).

According to IRR researcher Chris Patterson, the Institute sent a letter to the CEE in August asking, “Can the Commission provide specific and detailed definitions of the a) African, b) Indian and c) coloured groups contained within the broader definition of 'black people' referred to in the EEA and its Annual Reports?”

Patterson, who authored the letter, notes that in response the CEE said the definition contained in Section 1 of the Employment Equity Act, 1998 was a “generic term” used to refer to “Africans, Coloureds and Indians”.

Beyond that, the Commission neither provided the specific or detailed definitions as requested, nor responded to the IRR’s query on its evaluation criteria.

Patterson says: “The Commission on Employment Equity’s response to the letter is thoroughly underwhelming and does not address the IRR’s core concern and question: How the Commission defines population groups without any legal basis.”

Moreover, Patterson argues, “setting benchmarks and ‘numerical goals’ won’t address the jobs crisis South Africa faces”.

IRR polling shows that South Africans strongly believe job creation should be a top priority for government. Most South Africans are unemployed, and nearly 10 million have never been employed, according to the latest data from the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA). The longer an individual is unemployed the more likely it is they will never find work, so this large number of South Africans who are unemployed is a great cause for concern.

Patterson says the government should abandon failed policies such as BEE. People who need it should be assisted on the basis of actual disadvantage, rather than on the basis of race, and policies such as the IRR’s Economic Empowerment for the Disadvantaged (EED) should be considered.

“Empowering South Africans economically, particularly black South Africans, can only come through economic growth and sustainable job creation. Racially classifying South Africans will not help with this. The South African Government must remove racial classification from its assessments. That is the path to true transformation,” Patterson concludes.

Media contact: Chris Patterson, IRR Researcher Tel: 063 682 5035 Email: chrisp@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za