Sectoral targets flexible and not the same as setting quotas

CAPE TOWN - Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth told the North Gauteng High Court that the sectoral targets she's set were not discriminatory.

In response to the Democratic Alliance (DA) challenging a section of the Employment Equity Amendment Act that gives her the power to set these targets, the minister said that these targets were flexible and were not the same as setting quotas.

The court heard that these targets are intended to give effect to affirmative action and not to cause anyone to lose their jobs, as argued by the DA.

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The minister of employment and labour said that just because the act gave her the power to set sectoral targets, doesn't make them rigid.

The targets were only published in the government gazette on 15 April, two years after the DA launched this case against the amendment act, which is not yet in force.

Representing both the minister and the Commission for Employment Equity, Advocate Fana Nalane argued that the DA was conflating the legislation with the numerical targets set.

"The concept of setting targets or goals is not by and of itself repugnant. And you can’t say because the minister can set targets, therefore that is unconstitutional."

Nalane further argued that the setting of targets was not arbitrary and the minister does so in consultation with the affected sectors.

He added that sanctions for non-compliance of equity targets were also not new to the employment space.

"The mere fact that there's a sanction doesn’t create a quota. The sanction has always been there, and there’s never been any complaint about that."

Nalane told the court that contrary to the DA's argument, the sectoral targets were not a one-size-fits-all approach.