According to the report by the Commission for Employment Equity for the 2012 reporting period, whites and males, particularly white males, continue to dominate in the middle to upper echelons of organisations. The Freedom Charter says: "South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white." The main aim of this Bill is to give effect to fundamental Constitutional rights, including the right to equality, fair labour practice and protection against unfair discrimination; to strengthen the implementation and enforcement mechanism of the Act; and to ensure that South Africa complies and meets its obligations in terms of the standards of the International Labour Organisation.
The proposed amendments have gone through a rigorous process, with the initial advice coming from the Commission for Employment Equity. This process included adopting strategies to engage the public and stakeholders through public hearings.
With regard to the amendments of the definition of designated groups, beneficiaries of affirmative action have now been clarified. Affirmative action will be limited to persons who were citizens of South Africa before the democratic era and their descendants, or those who would have been entitled to citizenship but due to apartheid policies were not afforded such citizenship. Foreign nationals and those who became citizens after 1994 do not assist employers to achieve their affirmative action targets and goals at the expense of designated South Africans.
The Freedom Charter further says: "There shall be work and security." This clause continues to emphasise that men and women of all races shall receive equal pay for equal work. We have inserted a new clause on the issue of equal pay for work of equal value. This deals explicitly with unfair discrimination by employers in respect of the terms and conditions of the employment of employees who are doing the same work, similar work or work of equal value. This includes contract workers vis--vis permanent workers, whether employed by a temporary employment agency or directly by the company.
Strengthening compliance and enforcement mechanisms, securing written undertakings and the issuing of compliance orders by labour inspectors were mandatory, even if a designated employer did not comply with the law at all. Securing written undertakings and issuing of compliance orders by labour inspectors have been made discretionary in the Bill, which may result in noncomplying employers being referred directly to the Labour Court for a fine.
The introduction of arbitration at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, CCMA, and not just conciliation in terms of current provisions for certain unfair discrimination disputes, will give employees the option of referring cases of unfair discrimination for arbitration at the CCMA in certain circumstances.
With regard to the amendment of schedule 1, which deals with fines and penalties, fines in schedule 1 have not increased since the inception of the Act. They have now been increased and linked to turnover in order to avoid any circumvention of the Act for noncompliance.
When this Bill is enacted, the department, together with the Commission for Employment Equity, will prioritise the finalisation of the regulations to bring them in line with the new amendments and it will ensure the necessary system changes to implement them. Thereafter, the department will embark on presenting public information sessions on the changes to stakeholders, explaining how the changes may affect them and what should be done to implement them properly. I would also like to call on our social partners to pool their efforts to ensure that these amendments are implemented. Let me thank all those who participated and contributed to these amendments, including the Commission for Employment Equity, our social partners, Nedlac and the Portfolio Committee on Labour for their commitment.
Let us work together to make sure that the dreams of our forebears are fulfilled. This Bill introduces measures that will contribute to making South Africa a better place for all to live in. With the above in mind, I hereby table and recommend the adoption of the Employment Equity Amendment Bill by this House. [Applause.]