Story audio is generated using AIThe department of employment & labour, the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) are set to embark on annual national employment equity workshops across the country. The roadshows, to be held from July 21 to September 1, aim to promote employment equity and to foster inclusive workplaces. A recent report by the Solidarity Research Institute, in collaboration with the Free Market Foundation, estimated annual compliance costs with broad-based black economic empowerment at R149bn-R290bn, equivalent to 2%-4% of the country’s GDP of R7.3-trillion. “This year’s national employment equity workshops/roadshows come a year after the implementation of the Employment Equity Amendment Act ... — Department of employment & labour, spokesperson Teboho Thejane The Employment Equity Amendment Act, which allows the labour minister to set strict, sector-specific numerical racial targets, has drawn sharp criticism, with some businesses and opposition parties condemning it as unconstitutional.President Cyril Ramaphosa, however, has defended the legislation as a vital and constitutional tool to correct systemic inequalities. Business group Sakeliga had called on its more than 12,000 members to defy the Act, which came into effect on January 1 2025, dismissing it as irrational, harmful and unconstitutional, and calling for it to be scrapped. The labour department said the roadshows would start in Kimberley in July under the theme “Bridging the Equity Gap Through Diversity & Inclusion”. Masilo Lefika, the department’s employment equity deputy director, said the workshops to be held in all nine provinces were part of the department’s ongoing efforts to promote compliance with legislation, advance workplace transformation, and foster “inclusive workplaces that reflect the labour market of the country’s diverse workforce”. Among other things, the workshops will focus on demonstrating how to use the employment equity systems to capture reports and request compliance certificates; presentations on sharing all types of unfair discrimination cases by the CCMA; and a presentation on labour law amendments — the Labour Relations Act (LRA), the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Employment Equity Act and the National Minimum Wage Act. “This year’s national employment equity workshops/roadshows come a year after the implementation of the Employment Equity Amendment Act ... The amendments and regulations introduced the setting of five-year sector employment equity targets; the enhancement of the employment equity system; and how to request an employment equity certificate of compliance to be able to conduct business with the state,” departmental spokesperson Teboho Thejane said. “In addition to workshops there will also be engagements conducted through Microsoft Teams for all stakeholders on September 8 and September 9.” Thejane said the workshops are targeted at employers or heads of organisations; employees and trade unions; assigned senior employment equity managers; consultative employment equity forum members; human resource managers and practitioners, academics, civil society and interested stakeholders. Employment and labour minister Nomakhosazana Meth has said she hoped the amendments to employment equity “will impact positively on job creation and the unemployment rate”.South Africa has an unemployment rate of 32.7%. The expanded definition, which includes discouraged job seekers, is more than 40%.