The fight against new racial equity laws to be taken to Constitutional Court

As the government’s new employment equity target regulations are about to take effect on September 1, the National Employers Association of South Africa (NEASA) and Business lobby group Sakeliga are appealing to the Constitutional Court to stop them.

This is after the Pretoria High Court refused the organisations’ request for an urgent interdict on August 28. 

Sakeliga said that the government plans to introduce the new laws because businesses have previously found ways around the Employment Equity Act and continue to hire autonomously. 

The organisation said these are “the most extreme employment regulations to date.” The regulations establish explicit quotas for companies in terms of race, gender, and disability. 

These will be handed down to companies based on their size and sector. From September 2025, companies with over 50 employees will have five years to comply with the regulations, but risk fines for slow progress.

Sakeliga said that gender quotas would be impossible to meet for jobs favoured by women, such as nursing, and for jobs favoured by men, such as construction. 

“The racial quotas are even more far-fetched,” the lobby group said. This would restrict white male employees to as low as 4% in some company categories, according to Sakeliga.

The group called these “targeted economic sanctions” against white men and their families and argued that it would severely harm business operations. 

The Minister of Employment and Labour, Nomakhosazana Meth, welcomed the Pretoria High Court’s judgment. 

According to the minister, Judge Graham Moshoana disagreed that setting numerical goals for employment equity would cause mayhem. 

The Judge said that the request for an urgent interdict must be denied because the minister already exercised her powers under the act in April, and that the interdict would be like trying to unscramble an egg. 

It was added that the regulations completed the mandatory public consultation process sufficiently, and that the targets are not arbitrary, but based on statistics from Statistics SA and with input from the Commission for Employment Equity. 

This contradicts NEASA’s statement earlier this month, claiming that the minister failed to follow the required administrative procedures or conduct adequate consultations and socio-economic impact assessments. 

“This ruling is a victory for equity, justice, and the rule of law. It affirms that the Department has acted within its legal mandate to advance transformation in the workplace,” said Meth. 

“We urge all employers to comply with the Employment Equity Regulations and to prepare for the submission of their 2025 EE reports.”

The minister added that compliance with the published regulations is not only a legal obligation but a moral imperative in building a more inclusive economy.

The legal battle continues

Sakeliga and NEASA have stated that, in light of the judgment, they will pursue further countermeasures.

The groups plan to take their request for an urgent interdict to the Constitutional Court, while pushing to have the new regulations declared unlawful and unconstitutional. 

Following the ruling, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) affirmed its position against NEASA and Sakeliga’s request to have the laws declared unconstitutional. 

“It is not surprising that in this year, when dog whistling has been taken to extraordinarily dangerous levels, that NEASA and Sakeliga could not resist the temptation to jump upon this bandwagon of ill-considered rashness and racial mobilisation,” the union said. 

It added that the constitution is eloquently clear in its requirement that the state pursue measures to address discriminatory legacies of the past 350 years. 

“It is shameful but not surprising that NEASA and Sakeliga’s court papers are premised upon fake news about the Act and its Regulations,” COSATU said. 

The union argued that the act does not state that any worker, of any race or gender, would lose their job and that the act accommodates all South Africans. 

“Any statement claiming otherwise should be taken as seriously as the flat earth society and race baiting on social media,” COSATU said.