IRR to submit anti-race laws petition to Department of Employment and Labour

South Africans have made their voices clear, and they want race laws scrapped, says the Institute of Race Relations (IRR). 

Four months ago, the IRR launched its #WhatSACanBe movement. The What South Africa Can Be campaign operationalises many of the IRR’s evidence-based and growth-enabling policy proposals and has published numerous draft bills which the government can readily adopt to change course, and stop the damage to our economy and our society. 

One such law is the #NoMoreRaceLawsBill. This draft legislation repeals all race laws and mandatory racial classification still in use long after the 1950 Population Registration Act – the very foundation of racialism in law − was scrapped. 

Minister of Employment and Labour Nomakhosazana Meth’s Employment Equity Amendment Act aims to make race laws more exacting by introducing race targets. These targets require individuals to classify by race and companies to closely monitor the race and sex profiles of their workforce to ensure that they meet the set targets. 

Says Makone Maja, IRR Strategic Engagements Manager: “This makes Minister Meth the perfect recipient of the No More Race Laws petition. The petition is anchored in the tenets of the #NoMoreRaceLaws Bill and has so far received 12,373 signatures from ordinary South Africans who have had enough of race laws that rob the people they claim to benefit while enabling the political elite to amass enormous wealth. These laws are part of a culture of fake transformation − they do not develop, upskill, or improve the lives of fully half of South Africa's population who remain in poverty and are left to get by on grants.” 

Maja criticises the Ministry of Employment and Labour for failing to move the needle on job creation, saying it has stood in the way of bringing more jobs into our economy and presides over some of the highest levels of joblessness, especially among young people, in South Africa’s democratic era. This is the department that clings to obstacles to growth, constraining the private sector’s employment-creating abilities.

“Blame for the last 10 years of little to no growth can be laid squarely at the door of laws that favour patronage over merit and value-for-money procurement. We can no longer afford to insist that race is relevant at the expense of true development and economic growth. The Minister of Employment has the power to lift all job-creating constraints and she can take the first step towards this goal by embracing the #NoMoreRaceLaws Bill. We will provide her with copies of the draft law as well as signatures in its support,” Maja concludes.

Media contact: Makone Maja, IRR Strategic Engagements Manager Tel: 079 418 6676 Email: makone@irr.org.za

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