The DA’s legal challenge to the Employment Equity Amendment Act has exposed the economic and racial fault lines that persist in South Africa 31 years after the end of statutory apartheid, and which continue to block the path to the nonracial and equitable society enjoined by the constitution.
Our workplaces continue to tell a story of racially skewed offices and factories led, in the main, by white males, in contrast to our country’s racial demographics.
The DA has argued in court that the regulations, apart from being unconstitutional in setting racial quotas (which the government denies, insisting they are targets) amount to unfair discrimination. Further, they are inimical to growing the economy. It warns against further burdening companies trying to remain profitable in straitened circumstances.
As with any citizen or entity, it is within the DA’s rights to seek redress from the courts for whatever they may be aggrieved by. However, it would be a mistake to view the case as a mere exercise of a right, without social, historical or political context.
The fundamental question is why, after three decades of democracy, deep inequalities continue to scar our workplaces, as well as the country itself? And how those of us who are privileged can choose to look the other way while too many compatriots continue to be racially discriminated against in their place of work?
The question is also about the need for us collectively to move with speed to make South Africa a fairer, more just society, in line with the constitution we all claim to owe allegiance to. It is unfortunate that, in some quarters, interventions to end inequalities have been portrayed as a threat to the wellbeing of the economy and society as a whole.
Yet economic growth and job creation need not be cast as inimical to making South Africa a more equal, more just and prosperous place, where businesses and the economy can thrive.
Our country cannot reach its full economic potential, including thriving businesses, while most of its citizens are shut out of opportunities to make a contribution
While some businesses have indeed made an effort to transform their workplaces, others have tended to engage in what amounts to a box-ticking exercise. Still others have even gone to the courts to thwart efforts aimed at accelerating the deracialisation of the South African workplace, without offering plausible alternatives.
With the advent of democracy, South Africans who were officially discriminated against in the past looked forward to being treated fairly, not only in the political sphere but in the economy as well. Not unreasonably, they expect to share in the benefits of the new society.
The courts will indeed make their call on the matter brought before them. Whatever they do, the reality is that our country cannot reach its full economic potential, including thriving businesses, while most of its citizens are shut out of opportunities to make a contribution. Or when our society is built on unstable schisms of fear and resentment, which are often exploited by politicians to their narrow, short-term benefit.
And as we care about economic growth and the profitability of businesses, we must also care about the welfare of those who work in the economy, so they are not excluded but feel they have a stake in it.
While it is the province of the courts to arbitrate matters, the broader solution for changing the country to a fairer, more just and prosperous place lies with all of us, particularly those who play leadership roles in different spheres of life, including politics and business.
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