The top echelons of corporate South Africa continue to be dominated by white males, the latest findings by the Commission of Employment Equity (CEE) shows, painting a damning picture in the slow pace of the past 30 years in redressing white dominance of the country’s economy.
The annual report shows that the male representation remains dominant at top management level, which is more than two-and-a-half times the female representation.
The commission, established in terms of the Employment Equity Act, advises the minister of employment and labour on policy and any other matters concerning the act.
Regarding race, the data shows that whites occupy 62.1% and Indians 11.6% of all positions at the top management level. This is significantly higher than their respective economically active populations (EAPs).
The annual report found that while Africans had an EAP of 80.7%, they only accounted for 17.2% of top management positions. Coloureds with an EAP of 9% accounted for only 6.1% of all positions at this level.
The report also shows that most opportunities in terms of recruitment, promotions and skills development accrued to whites and Indians at the senior management level, especially when their EAPs are taken into consideration.
“A noticeable positive change at the professionally qualified/ middle management level is encouraging in terms of the representation of the designated groups, albeit the provision of opportunities appears to remain inherently linked to race and gender at more senior upper echelons of the workforce in relation to top management and senior management levels,” the commission said in the report.
“The same trend of greater representation of the white population group and to a certain extent, the Indian population group in most sectors of the private sector is noted, while mostly the African and coloured population groups are occupying positions from the professionally qualified/middle management levels and below. This phenomenon confirms that the South African labour market continues in the same trajectory of being racialised and gendered 30 years into democracy and 26 years since the inception of the Employment Equity Act.
“It is clear in this report that the pace of transformation in the labour market remains very slow and we have not made a significant dent in ensuring the equitable representation of all designated groups, across all occupational levels of the workforce, especially at the upper echelons of top and senior management in all sectors,” the commission said.
“In light of the above observations, it is evident that we have not substantially moved a needle in narrowing the racial and gender gap in ensuring that we create workplaces that are free from unfair discrimination, are inclusive and diversified. As such, the CEE remains committed to facilitating the regulatory compliance to employment equity and affirmative action.”
The report has drawn sharp criticism from black business. Black Business Council (BBC) CEO Kganki Matabane highlighted that the employment equity report indicates that almost 70% of CEOs of JSE-listed companies are white males.
“In the public sector, the situation is completely different. This picture confirms our argument that the ownership element in the BBBEE scorecard is very crucial,” Matabane said.
“The shareholders in the private sector are not pushing enough, especially the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which owns almost 15% of the companies listed on the JSE, making it arguably, the single biggest institutional investor.”
He said the PIC did very well during president Thabo Mbeki’s tenure by being an active transformational investor.
“As such, as long as black people don’t own their economy, they will remain in the lower levels of companies. The owners call the shots,” he said.
Managing director Monde Ndlovu said the Black Management Forum has been advocating for the promulgation of section 53 of the Employment Equity Act, which has now been taken on by the government, including giving the minister powers to set sector targets.
“Sector targets have been released for public comment and the battle for the soul of management in the economy is heating up. We need to remember that power reproduces itself, including its values, ideas and worldview.
“To break this norm of seeing white men dominate top echelons of leadership in corporate will take a combination of setting clear targets for top management and deepening transformation within business,” said Ndlovu.
He stated that BBBEE empowerment elements must now include management control as a top priority for business.
“Making management control a top priority will force businesses to transform their top leadership because more points will be gained through this approach. We must make management control priority number one, followed by ownership and skills development.
“Enterprise and supplier development is a function of ownership, and it’s a discussion for another day,” Ndlovu said.
