The Employment Equity Amendment Act (EEAA), in force since January 2025, establishes numerical targets by race and gender across 18 South African economic sectors. These targets are distributed across four occupational levels: skilled technical, professional and middle management, senior management, and top management. The targets, formally published in April 2025, require employers with 50 or more employees to restructure their workforce to reflect the country’s national demographic data on race and gender.
According to official data released by the Department of Employment and Labour, the ceilings for white men vary significantly between sectors and hierarchical levels. In the skilled technical category, the limit is 4.1% in most sectors, rising to 15.6% in real estate activities and 13.3% in mining. In top management, the percentages are higher: 66% in agriculture, forestry and fishing, 50.9% in manufacturing, and 8.3% in public administration and defence.
The Department of Employment and Labour cited its 2024 Employment Equity Report, which showed that white workers — who represent 7.3% of the population — occupied 62.1% of all top management positions. The government describes the targets as tools to ensure equitable representation of “designated groups” — defined by law as Black people, women, and people with disabilities — at all occupational levels.
Non-compliance with the targets exposes employers to fines ranging from R1.5 million or 2% of turnover for first-time offenders, up to R2.7 million or 10% of turnover for repeat offenders, whichever is higher. Employers were required to begin submitting their plans by September 2025, with the measures remaining in effect until August 2030.
The National Employers’ Association of South Africa (NEASA) and the Afrikaner business organisation Sakeliga have announced they will join forces to challenge the new hiring policies in court, describing them as unconstitutional, illegal and harmful. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has also filed a lawsuit, arguing that Section 15A violates Section 9 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law and prohibits unfair discrimination.
The Department of Employment and Labour has rejected claims that the law establishes racial quotas. Department spokesperson Pertunia Lessing told the Mail & Guardian that the law “does not have quotas.” Minister of Employment and Labour Nomakhosazana Meth said the legal challenge represents an attempt to reverse the progress made since 1994 and to maintain an unjust status quo.
Sources:
businesstech.co.za/news/business/822946/showdown-over-new-race-laws-in-south-africa/
moneyweb.co.za/news/south-africa/urgent-court-action-aims-to-halt-employment-equity-quotas/
sakeliga.org.za/insight/repealed-legislation-from-1950-now-used-to-classify-employees-by-race
mg.co.za/news/2025-06-20-labour-department-denies-racial-quotas-in-employment-equity-amendment-act/