The six companies singled out last year by Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana for failing to comply with employment-equity legislation still continue to defy the law, the Labour Department said on Monday.
Briefing the media in Cape Town, Labour Director General Vanguard Nkosana described as ”horrifying” the extent to which the companies are disobeying the Employment Equity Act.
”Preliminary observations of these six companies were not only shocking; all six companies did not comply with the full requirements of the Act … They have failed to consult with employees, conduct an analysis of their workplace, prepare and implement an employment-equity plan and submit progress report to the Department of Labour using prescribed forms.”
The six companies — Kumba Resources, Comair Limited, Verimark Holdings, Medi-Clinic Group, Prism Holdings and Omnia Group — were last year subjected to a name-and-shame campaign spearheaded by Mdladlana.
Nkosana said the department has now given the companies until August to demonstrate progress in implementing the department’s recommendations. ”Beyond which we would take them to the Labour Court,” he said.
Speaking at the same briefing, the chairperson of the Commission for Employment Equity, Jimmy Manyi, said racism is the main reason transformation is slow in many South African companies.
”The problem is that gatekeepers in most companies were largely white. These white people feel that their genes where much more superior than those of black people,” he said.
In an attempt to deceive authorities and distort their employment-equity profiles, Manyi said many of the companies are now resorting to employing more white females.
”The economy is still on white hands and we are not transforming fast enough,” he said. — Sapa