LETTER: Employment equity an iniquity
The Human Rights Commission has found that equity policies are unconstitutional
The SA Human Rights Commission is an institution formed in terms of the constitution to have an oversight function to ensure that human rights are protected. One of the heavily debated interventions enforced by the department of labour is employment equity. These policies have been largely ineffectual and have enriched a few instead of the greater workforce. The Human Rights Commission has investigated the constitutionality of equity policies and has deemed them to be unconstitutional and in contradiction to international labour organisation conventions. These findings were conveyed to labour minister Mildred Oliphant, who was advised to take steps to reverse the parts of the policies that were deemed to be unconstitutional. Affirmative action and social engineering the world over have been used as a blunt tool to try to “level the playing fields”. However, the functionality has always been negative and in most cases led to greater unemployment and less economic activity. The real p...
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