Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za
3-minute read
07 May 2025 | 11:45 CAT

Advocate Ismail Jamie SC for the DA argues in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria that rigid racial quotas harm employment opportunities. (File-Photo, Siyamtanda Capa/News24)

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is challenging the Employment Equity Amendment Act in the North Gauteng High Court, arguing that the newly implemented employment quotas are unconstitutional and unfairly discriminatory.

The party’s national spokesperson, Willie Aukamp, says the legislation empowers the Minister of Labour to impose “rigid national targets” without accounting for specific contexts of regions or businesses. “This Amendment Act is draconian, it gives totalitarian powers of social engineering to the Minister,” he said.

The DA contends that the Act violates Section 9 of the Constitution, which allows for fair discrimination in the pursuit of redress but requires such measures to meet a fairness benchmark. According to Aukamp, the legislation fails this test and risks deepening rather than resolving inequality.

In court, the party highlighted what it calls the dangerous practical implications of the Act. “If this geographic spread is applied in KwaZulu-Natal, it will mean that no Indian person can get a job in a company with more than 50 employees. Same goes for coloured people in the Western Cape,” Aukamp stated, labelling this an act of reverse discrimination.

Critics have accused the DA of undermining transformation efforts, but Aukamp pushed back: “We cannot correct the wrongs of the past by acting wrongly again. This is not redress, it is racial exclusion under a new name.”

He further cited the Western Cape—governed by the DA—as a model of success, boasting the country’s lowest unemployment rates and the most progressive redress outcomes. “The accusations that we are anti-transformation are simply false,” he added.

The party also argues that the bill was incorrectly passed through Parliament as a Section 75 bill, which applies to laws not affecting provinces. “This Act directly impacts provinces with varied demographic realities and should have been processed as a Section 76 bill,” Aukamp explained, deeming the process “unconstitutional.”

As proceedings continue, the DA maintains that its fight is to ensure “every South African has a fair chance to obtain a decent job,” free from blanket racial quotas.

Listen to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and Willie Auckamp here.