The DA submitted court documents to the Pretoria High Court in an attempt to have the controversial draft regulations that form part of the Equal Employment Amendment Act declared unconstitutional.
The opposition party says the regulations have transformed the Equal Employment Amendment Act into a so-called Racial Quotas Act “which threatens the social structure of South African society by replicating racial quotas from the apartheid era in the labor market under the guise of employment equity”.
“In essence, the amendment law blatantly violates the constitutional principle of non-racialism and favors a harmful policy of selective and exclusive employment that infringes on the constitutional rights of South African citizens,” says John Steenhuisen, leader of the DA.
“It is also in conflict with the core values of equality and freedom in trade and profession.”
The court documents follow because the amendment law’s racial quotas seek to establish specific demographic compositions that designated employers must reach. Employers who employ 50 or more people will essentially be punished in terms of the amendments should they not achieve the targets, with a ban on business with the state and the suspension of existing contracts that can be enforced.
Steenhuisen says that this “draconian” legislation will ultimately be just one more of the ANC’s plans that will stop economic growth and will ultimately hit poor South Africans the hardest because it will scare off investors and make those with skills flee the country.
