10 March 2006
	MANAGEMENT IT'S TIME to step up THE TEMPO By Thandeka Gqubule Critics say that after 12 years of democracy, SA still has a long way to go in terms of employment equity

Globally, the debate around affirmative action has resurfaced, and this has fuelled the local debate. So has the politics and economics of inclusion and exclusion. Critics say employment equity has been slow while institutionalised racism is still rife in the SA private sector. The figures provided by Empowerdex indicate that SA is merely strolling towards its targets. The numbers suggest that in spite of an uptick in deal flow over the past two years, senior- and lower-management ranks are transforming at a slow pace. According to Loyiso Mbabane, director of the BEE Monitor attached to the University of Cape Town business treats affirmative action and merit as mutually exclusive concepts. Mbabane says it is possible to have a company dedicated to upholding merit and improving performance while employing black people and advancing employment equity. Mbabane says that less than 4% of top managers of JSE-listed companies are black. According to him, less than 10% of top managers in all companies are black and most charters aim to have 25% black management by 2008. Labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana has criticised the slow pace of transformation and announced that a crack team, will conduct spot checks and report companies that fail to comply with employment equity legislation. The minister proved he meant business by litigating against a number of companies and appointing corporate transformation activist and Black Management Forum stalwart Jimmy Manyi to chair the Commission for Employment Equity. The body is tasked with ensuring that the problems of inaccurate data completion and erroneous equity reports are solved.