The Department of Labour’s employment equity (EE) roadshow on Tuesday visited East London in the Eastern Cape.
The roadshow is part of the department’s efforts to achieve equitable representation and fair treatment of the designated groups across all levels in the work places.
Lucia Rayner, from the Employment Equity Directorate, said the department’s Employment Equity Plan addresses barriers to fair employment practices through remedial measures and the implementation of policies, procedures and practices.
The nationwide roadshow is being held under the theme ‘Real Transformation makes business sense’. It continues today in Port Elizabeth at the Pine Lodge Hotel in Marine Drive, Summerstrand.
Rayner said a total of 26 255 employers appeared in the public register after submitting their employment equity reports to the Department of Labour in 2016. In the Eastern Cape, 1 384 employers made it onto the register. The Eastern Cape figure is 5% of the national statistic and represents 369 000 employees.
Rayner said it is important for employers to have employment equity plans to show their commitment to the transformation programme.
The roadshow started on 11 July in Kimberley. Workshops have been held in Rustenburg, Nelspruit, Thohoyandou, Polokwane, Bloemfontein, Richards Bay and Durban.
More workshops are to be held in the Western Cape, George (22 August) and Cape Town (24 August); Gauteng, Pretoria (5 September) targeting mainly government departments at national and provincial level, Ekurhuleni (6 & 8 September) and Vaal (7 September), targeting mainly municipalities.
The annual roadshow targets human resources executives and practitioners, EE Forum members, assigned senior EE managers/transformation managers, academics and trade unions, among others.
The Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has partnered with the Department of Labour to share information on the status of employment equity case study.
The EE online and manual reporting season opens on 1 September 2017. – SAnews.gov.za
