Black South Africans lead in professionally qualified category of employees

Black South Africans occupy most of the positions held in 2015 by professionally qualified workers at 41.2%‚ according to a new employment equity report.

 This is up from 36.7% in 2014‚ according to statistics revealed by the Department of Labour’s Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) in its annual report in Pretoria on Monday.

White South Africans make up 38% of this category of the workforce‚ followed by coloured South Africans at 9.4%‚ Indian South Africans at 8.5% and foreign nationals at 2.8%.

CEE chairperson Commissioner Tabea Kabinde said that the transformation in this area was exciting‚ compared with the slow pace of transformation in top and senior management.

The report categorised jobs into four categories – top management positions‚ senior management positions‚ professionally qualified positions and technically skilled positions.

White men lead the pack with most positions held in both top and senior management‚ the report found.

In the category representing technically skilled workers‚ black people held most of the positions at 58.8%‚ compared with white people at 22%‚ coloured people at 11.6%‚ Indian people at 5.9% and foreign nationals at 1.7%.

Kabinde said that overall transformation in the workplace was happening at a “very slow pace” which was “concerning”.

Labour Department Minister Mildred Oliphant‚ who attended the launch‚ said that government would soon start taking legal action against companies which did not comply with employment equity laws.

 Oliphant said this year‚ the CEE would engage with employers and employees in a six-month drive to educate them about the requirements of these laws.