"I am not a number! I am a free man!" The Employment Equity Act, 1998 (and other myths about the pursuit of "equality", "equity" and "dignity" in Post-Apartheid South Africa) (PART 2)
The author critically examines the organising principle of the affirmative action provisions of the Employment Equity Act (or EEA), as well as the implications of the recent judgment by the Constitutional Court in its first case involving the application of affirmative action in the employment conte...
Saved in:
Published in | Potchefstroom electronic law journal Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 669 - 733 |
---|---|
Main Author | |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | Portuguese |
Published |
North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus)
2015
|
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Abstract | The author critically examines the organising principle of the affirmative action provisions of the Employment Equity Act (or EEA), as well as the implications of the recent judgment by the Constitutional Court in its first case involving the application of affirmative action in the employment context (and in terms of the EEA) - SAPS v Solidarity obo Barnard. While reiterating the need for restitutionary measures such as affirmative action in South Africa, the author concludes - probably quite controversially - that the EEA's treatment of affirmative action has nothing to do with the equality right in the Bill of Rights, and that the Act pursues a different (and omnipresent) social engineering agenda by the state. The author calls for this realisation to prompt future affirmative action cases arising from the application of this Act to be removed from the scheme of (and potential defences available under) the equality jurisprudence, and for the courts to critically interrogate the constitutionality of the EEA's affirmative action scheme within its own context. The author believes that Chapter III of the Act is unconstitutional in this sense, and he calls for the scrapping of its provisions. He also calls for a (more) constitutionally-compliant exposition from the Constitutional Court of the parameters of legitimate affirmative action under the Bill of Rights, and adds his voice to the numerous calls for reconsideration of the "rationality test" expounded in Minister of Finance v van Heerden. More generally, the author considers the apparently all-pervasive application of the government ideology of the pursuit of demographic representivity in "transformation" of employment and other contexts (expressing grave doubts about its constitutionality along the way). In Part 1 of this piece (which precedes this article in this edition), the author considers the constitutional requirements for a legitimate affirmative action programme or measure. He then examines the affirmative action scheme of the Employment Equity Act, and explains his views on why such scheme is, in fact, unconstitutional. This article forms Part 2 of this piece and the author continues to critically evaluate the Constitutional Court judgment in the Barnardcase, and he highlights the biggest areas of disappointment of this judgment within the context of South Africa's equality jurisprudence. After a very brief consideration of the recent amendments to the Employment Equity Act, the author concludes by providing reasons why the Act's approach to affirmative action needs to be rejected, and soon. |
---|---|
AbstractList | The author critically examines the organising principle of the affirmative action provisions of the Employment Equity Act (or EEA), as well as the implications of the recent judgment by the Constitutional Court in its first case involving the application of affirmative action in the employment context (and in terms of the EEA) - SAPS v Solidarity obo Barnard. While reiterating the need for restitutionary measures such as affirmative action in South Africa, the author concludes - probably quite controversially - that the EEA's treatment of affirmative action has nothing to do with the equality right in the Bill of Rights, and that the Act pursues a different (and omnipresent) social engineering agenda by the state. The author calls for this realisation to prompt future affirmative action cases arising from the application of this Act to be removed from the scheme of (and potential defences available under) the equality jurisprudence, and for the courts to critically interrogate the constitutionality of the EEA's affirmative action scheme within its own context. The author believes that Chapter III of the Act is unconstitutional in this sense, and he calls for the scrapping of its provisions. He also calls for a (more) constitutionally-compliant exposition from the Constitutional Court of the parameters of legitimate affirmative action under the Bill of Rights, and adds his voice to the numerous calls for reconsideration of the "rationality test" expounded in Minister of Finance v van Heerden. More generally, the author considers the apparently all-pervasive application of the government ideology of the pursuit of demographic representivity in "transformation" of employment and other contexts (expressing grave doubts about its constitutionality along the way). In Part 1 of this piece (which precedes this article in this edition), the author considers the constitutional requirements for a legitimate affirmative action programme or measure. He then examines the affirmative action scheme of the Employment Equity Act, and explains his views on why such scheme is, in fact, unconstitutional. This article forms Part 2 of this piece and the author continues to critically evaluate the Constitutional Court judgment in the Barnardcase, and he highlights the biggest areas of disappointment of this judgment within the context of South Africa's equality jurisprudence. After a very brief consideration of the recent amendments to the Employment Equity Act, the author concludes by providing reasons why the Act's approach to affirmative action needs to be rejected, and soon. |
Author | Louw, AM |
AuthorAffiliation | University of Stellenbosch |
AuthorAffiliation_xml | – name: University of Stellenbosch |
Author_xml | – sequence: 1 givenname: AM surname: Louw fullname: Louw, AM organization: University of Stellenbosch |
BookMark | eNpNkE9PwzAMxSMEEn-P3E1PIK0jadKlOVbTgEmTmGD3KWld2qlNRpsi7ZPx9WgHB3zxs-X3LP0uyal1Fgm5ZXQqOBOPe6x30y-WVHxKZyfkgslIhlwm7PSfPic3XbejQ3HOEiEuyHewBN2AdR402L4x2N7BcaWhaBGh0fYugE2JsGj2tTs0aD0sPvvKHyDN_ASYUgnca5uD8yW20Bx82YE2rvcwLGDft91wDa6AAD97XQ_OYHLUo4LRGeTVhz1OlYW163yY7nU7uKsc3oegEtKirTL9APfr9G0D0cM1OSt03eHNX78im6fFZv4Srl6fl_N0FXaMKh9GiikjuMkNCsVnM0FlEReFipMkmyFSRpHLOJK5TlBIYxSTiY4NR62oMJxfkelvbJdVWLvtzvWtHf5t30em25FpRFk8Ah2pSv4DvsN0gQ |
ContentType | Journal Article |
Copyright | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. |
Copyright_xml | – notice: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. |
DBID | GPN |
DOI | 10.4314/pelj.v18i3.06 |
DatabaseName | SciELO |
DatabaseTitleList | |
DeliveryMethod | fulltext_linktorsrc |
Discipline | Law |
EISSN | 1727-3781 |
EndPage | 733 |
ExternalDocumentID | S1727_37812015000300007 |
GroupedDBID | -OY 123 1RF 29O 2WC 4JU 5VS 6SC ABDBF ABXHO ADBBV ADUOI AEIZH AKPQQ ALMA_UNASSIGNED_HOLDINGS APOWU BCNDV C1A ESX GCT GPN GROUPED_DOAJ HCSNT HISYW HOCAJ IPNFZ JRA KQ8 KWQ M~E OK1 RFP RHO RIG SCD |
ID | FETCH-LOGICAL-s109t-2919b43bdbe49366407f5ff9588c6ee010e37527da8e47bb9178a5b3ea904b33 |
ISSN | 1727-3781 |
IngestDate | Fri Oct 18 21:39:46 EDT 2024 |
IsDoiOpenAccess | true |
IsOpenAccess | true |
IsPeerReviewed | true |
IsScholarly | true |
Issue | 3 |
Keywords | (substantive) equality (demographic) representivity Minister of Finance v van Heerden "rationality test" quotas numerical targets affirmative action Employment Equity Act, 1998 SAPS v Solidarity obo Barnard unfair discrimination section 9 Bill of Rights |
Language | Portuguese |
License | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 |
LinkModel | OpenURL |
MergedId | FETCHMERGED-LOGICAL-s109t-2919b43bdbe49366407f5ff9588c6ee010e37527da8e47bb9178a5b3ea904b33 |
OpenAccessLink | http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/pelj.v18i3.06 |
PageCount | 65 |
ParticipantIDs | scielo_journals_S1727_37812015000300007 |
PublicationCentury | 2000 |
PublicationDate | 20150001 |
PublicationDateYYYYMMDD | 2015-01-01 |
PublicationDate_xml | – year: 2015 text: 20150001 day: 01 |
PublicationDecade | 2010 |
PublicationTitle | Potchefstroom electronic law journal |
PublicationTitleAlternate | PER |
PublicationYear | 2015 |
Publisher | North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) |
Publisher_xml | – name: North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) |
References | Montesh, M 2010 Alexy, R 2004 Gleason, D 2013 Southall, R 2008 Myburgh, J 2014 Sowell, T 2003 Albertyn, C; Goldblatt, B 1998 Wessels, JS 2008 Wessels, JS 2005 Mbanjwa, X 2014 De Vos, P 2012 Pretorius, JL 2010 Pretorius, JL 2013 Wesson, M; Du Plessis, M 2008 Davis, D 2010 Masemola, NM 1990 McGregor, M 2003 Hermann, D 2014 Nolan, SA 2004 Wiechers, M 2014 Kumm, M 2010 Woolman, S 2008 Benatar, D 2008 Husain, M 2013 Dupper, O 2008 Brassey, M 1998 Sowell, T; Thernstrom, A; Thernstrom, S 2002 Pretorius, JL; Klinck, ME; Ngwena, GC 2001 Sowell, T 2011 Murray, C; Simeon, R 2007 Pieterse, M 2005 Kane-Berman, J 2014 Malan, K 2010 Malan, K 2014 Steward, D 2012 Radebe, J 2011 McGregor, M 2014 McGregor, M 2013 2014 2013 Farrell, B 2002 Partington, J; Van der Walt, A 2005 Mureinik, E 1994 |
References_xml | – start-page: 202 year: 2002 end-page: 223 article-title: South Africa and Affirmative Action: The Legality of the Employment Equity Act under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights publication-title: TCLR contributor: fullname: Farrell, B – start-page: 55 year: 2010 end-page: 77 article-title: Transformation in the South African Police Service: The Implementation of Affirmative Action and Employment Equity in SAPS publication-title: SACJ contributor: fullname: Montesh, M – year: 2013 article-title: Africa Surpasses while SA Affirms publication-title: Business Day contributor: fullname: Gleason, D – year: 2013 publication-title: Cadre Deployment Contradicts NDP - DA – start-page: 10 year: 2008 end-page: 24 article-title: Category Mistakes and the Waiver of Constitutional Rights: Response to Deeksha Bhana on Barkhuizen publication-title: SALJ contributor: fullname: Woolman, S – start-page: 187 year: 2008 end-page: 213 article-title: Fifteen Years On: Central Issues Relating to the Transformation of the South African Judiciary publication-title: SAJHR contributor: fullname: Wesson, M; Du Plessis, M – start-page: 248 year: 1998 end-page: 276 article-title: Facing the Challenges of Transformation: Difficulties in the Development of an Indigenous Jurisprudence of Equality publication-title: SAJHR contributor: fullname: Albertyn, C; Goldblatt, B – year: 2004 publication-title: A Theory of Constitutional Rights contributor: fullname: Alexy, R – year: 2014 publication-title: Isn't It Time to Rethink SA's Transformation Policies? contributor: fullname: Mbanjwa, X – start-page: 427 year: 2010 end-page: 449 article-title: Observations on Representivity, Democracy and Homogenisation publication-title: TSAR contributor: fullname: Malan, K – start-page: 73 year: 2012 end-page: 103 article-title: The Past is Unpredictable: Race, Redress and Remembrance in the South African Constitution publication-title: SALJ contributor: fullname: De Vos, P – start-page: 31 year: 2013 end-page: 44 article-title: Accountability, Contextualisation and the Standard of Judicial Review of Affirmative Action: Solidarity obo Barnard v South African Police Services publication-title: SALJ contributor: fullname: Pretorius, JL – start-page: 31 year: 1994 article-title: A Bridge to Where?: Introducing the Interim Bill of Rights publication-title: SAJHR contributor: fullname: Mureinik, E – year: 2014 publication-title: Race Quotas: The Terrible Power of "Demographic Representivity" contributor: fullname: Myburgh, J – year: 2014 publication-title: Transformation Must Continue: Ramaphosa – start-page: 125 year: 2005 end-page: 141 article-title: Equal Employment Opportunities: A Conceptual Puzzle publication-title: Poltteta contributor: fullname: Wessels, JS – start-page: 60 year: 2014 end-page: 92 article-title: Blowing the Whistle?: The Future of Affirmative Action in South Africa - Part 1 publication-title: SA Merc LLJ contributor: fullname: McGregor, M – start-page: 281 year: 2008 end-page: 299 article-title: The ANC for Sale?: Money, Morality and Business in South Africa publication-title: Rev Afr Poltt Econ contributor: fullname: Southall, R – year: 2011 publication-title: The Thomas Sowell Reader contributor: fullname: Sowell, T – start-page: 699 year: 2007 end-page: 729 article-title: Recognition Without Empowerment: Minorities in a Democratic South Africa publication-title: ICON contributor: fullname: Murray, C; Simeon, R – start-page: 142 year: 2010 end-page: 175 article-title: The Idea of Socratic Contestation and the Right to Justification: The Point of Rights-based Proportionality Review publication-title: Law and Ethics of Human Rights contributor: fullname: Kumm, M – start-page: 536 year: 2010 end-page: 570 article-title: Fairness in Transformation: A Critique of the Constitutional Court's Affirmative Action Jurisprudence publication-title: SAJHR contributor: fullname: Pretorius, JL – year: 2014 publication-title: Die Barnard-uitspraak: Nog van Koers af Ondanks Goeie Wet' Rapport contributor: fullname: Wiechers, M – start-page: 82 year: 2003 end-page: 89 article-title: The Role of Merit in Affirmative Action publication-title: JBL contributor: fullname: McGregor, M – start-page: 21 year: 2008 end-page: 36 article-title: Transforming the Public Service to Serve a Diverse Society: Can Representativeness be the Most Decisive Criterion? publication-title: Politeia contributor: fullname: Wessels, JS – year: 2014 publication-title: The Tyranny of Representivity: A Speech Delivered contributor: fullname: Hermann, D – start-page: 85 year: 2010 end-page: 101 article-title: Transformation: The Constitutional Promise and Reality publication-title: SAJHR contributor: fullname: Davis, D – start-page: 1359 year: 1998 end-page: 1366 article-title: The Employment Equity Act: Bad for Employment and Bad for Equity publication-title: ILJ contributor: fullname: Brassey, M – start-page: 167 year: 2002 end-page: 180 publication-title: Beyond the Color Line: New Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity in America contributor: fullname: Sowell, T; Thernstrom, A; Thernstrom, S – start-page: 3 year: 2013 end-page: 5 article-title: Lost in Transformation publication-title: De Rebus contributor: fullname: Husain, M – start-page: 378 year: 2004 end-page: 393 article-title: Electoral Reform and Female Representation in South Africa's National Assembly publication-title: SAPL contributor: fullname: Nolan, SA – year: 2014 publication-title: Why South Africa is Not Working contributor: fullname: Kane-Berman, J – start-page: 274 year: 2008 end-page: 306 article-title: Justice, Diversity and Racial Preference: A Critique of Affirmative Action publication-title: SALJ contributor: fullname: Benatar, D – start-page: 650 year: 2013 end-page: 675 article-title: Affirmative Action on Trial: Determining the Legitimacy and Fair Application of Remedial Measures publication-title: TSAR contributor: fullname: McGregor, M – year: 2003 publication-title: The Grand Fraud: Affirmative Action for Blacks contributor: fullname: Sowell, T – start-page: 155 year: 2005 end-page: 166 article-title: What Do We Mean When We Talk About Transformative Constitutionalism? publication-title: SAPL contributor: fullname: Pieterse, M – start-page: 45 year: 1990 end-page: 57 article-title: Rights and a Future South African Constitution: The Controversial and the Non-controversial publication-title: Colum Hum Rts L Rev contributor: fullname: Masemola, NM – start-page: 595 year: 2005 end-page: 608 article-title: The Development of Defences in Unfair Discrimination Cases - Part 2 publication-title: Obiter contributor: fullname: Partington, J; Van der Walt, A – start-page: 425 year: 2008 end-page: 444 article-title: Affirmative Action: Who, How, and How Long? publication-title: SAJHR contributor: fullname: Dupper, O – start-page: 118 year: 2014 end-page: 140 article-title: Constitutional Perspectives on the Judgments of the Labour Appeal Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal in Solidarity (acting on behalf of Barnard) v South African Police Services publication-title: De Jure contributor: fullname: Malan, K – year: 2011 publication-title: Legal Profession must be Demographtcally Representative contributor: fullname: Radebe, J – year: 2001 publication-title: Employment Equity Law contributor: fullname: Pretorius, JL; Klinck, ME; Ngwena, GC – year: 2012 publication-title: Demographic Representivity: Or Racial Domination? contributor: fullname: Steward, D |
SSID | ssj0000331844 |
Score | 1.9813901 |
Snippet | The author critically examines the organising principle of the affirmative action provisions of the Employment Equity Act (or EEA), as well as the implications... |
SourceID | scielo |
SourceType | Open Access Repository |
StartPage | 669 |
SubjectTerms | Law |
Title | "I am not a number! I am a free man!" The Employment Equity Act, 1998 (and other myths about the pursuit of "equality", "equity" and "dignity" in Post-Apartheid South Africa) (PART 2) |
URI | http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1727-37812015000300007&lng=en&tlng=en |
Volume | 18 |
hasFullText | 1 |
inHoldings | 1 |
isFullTextHit | |
isPrint | |
link | http://utb.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwnV1Lb9NAEF6FcuGCeIpnNbWoaOU6-Jm1jxEqahFFlQhSb9FuvFaD0qTENpE48Lf4Q_wQZmadxglFKlyczci7a3s-jT_PzuwI8crX-HUT5cZLRpn24lEWeciKlIdkXKkkzjMdUHLyycfe0ef4_Vly1un8akUt1ZXujr5fm1fyP1pFGeqVsmT_QbNXg6IA26hfPKKG8XgjHe-G4bGrLtzprHKVa4t77IaBy0LlFnPD4akowjM5uMIW-OUAgMOvNTHw_ojNMCXBEdskPzonZbnk9SybwGXOp6rnJfYgdomjGZuNiSoKqbuV2P-8HoG_-Zgik1gynnJVYK9_iXdxbsYULVrTehFXKWLPRJieIrd2w6VroiHMpzOCVVFWxPDdVtGeiVq47YdEQUWzetEKWmh8GUGy4cvgpSqPSuq0w1LoAtbmolWZulxejrXbSMPQVtrqL11zjewPY7_yBbDl7tmKMQ0JkHZ3js33C7KtmIoim8mX7rcgHUddf2Mfb2YGn2jqIU1NN8mfnT5veXA7lFlCgacnP1aeQD9Cu8pVh6-u2G4GS7O9WZuL9rNFkz9pc6DBPXG3-XiBvkXifdG5rB6IWx_U4qH46RyDugBEIiiwSNwBFikgHALicMcBxCCsMAgWg4AYPABCIOwhdoDxB4w_YPwBCqDBH8wKcJbocw64TS2gnk6DOQfGU1hHHDDiwCJuH_YIbRDuPxKDd4eDt0deUxTEKwM_q7wwCzIdRzrXJs6iHq1DF0lRZEmajnrG-IFvIpmEMlepiaXWWSBTlejIqMyPdRQ9FlvT2dQ8EYBcXyeBzKNcUrhCD7mxlDKQhfILHDB_Kl7bhz1s0FwO_6LYZzc-87m4s8L9C7FVzWvzElltpbfZG7TN0PgN4FuYaw |
link.rule.ids | 230,315,786,790,870,891,27955,27956 |
linkProvider | ISSN International Centre |
openUrl | ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=%22I+am+not+a+number%21+I+am+a+free+man%21%22+The+Employment+Equity+Act%2C+1998+%28and+other+myths+about+the+pursuit+of+%22equality%22%2C+%22equity%22+and+%22dignity%22+in+Post-Apartheid+South+Africa%29+%28PART+2%29&rft.jtitle=Potchefstroom+electronic+law+journal&rft.au=Louw%2C+AM&rft.date=2015-01-01&rft.pub=North-West+University+%28Potchefstroom+Campus%29&rft.issn=1727-3781&rft.eissn=1727-3781&rft.volume=18&rft.issue=3&rft.spage=669&rft.epage=733&rft_id=info:doi/10.4314%2Fpelj.v18i3.06&rft.externalDocID=S1727_37812015000300007 |
thumbnail_l | http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/lc.gif&issn=1727-3781&client=summon |
thumbnail_m | http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/mc.gif&issn=1727-3781&client=summon |
thumbnail_s | http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/sc.gif&issn=1727-3781&client=summon |