Willem, Kegomoditswe Daphney2025-06-042024Willem, Kegomoditswe Daphney. (2024). An Analysis of Statutorily Imposed Sectorial Affirmative Action Targets [Masters dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WIReDSpace. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/45061https://hdl.handle.net/10539/45061A research report submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Laws, In the Faculty of Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024The World Bank has classified South Africa as the world's most unequal country.1 The circumstances inherited from the Apartheid regime have been noted as contributors to the increase in inequality.2 While the government has enacted legislative restitutionary measures to address the inequalities caused by the Apartheid regime, the pace at which these measures are addressing inequity has been regrettably slow. The Employment Equity Act3 (EEA) was enacted to mitigate the effects of workplace discrimination by prohibiting unfair discrimination and requiring employers to implement affirmative action measures to ensure that their workplaces are representative of the country’s demographics.4 Preferential treatment of people from designated groups and numerical goals set by designated employers to increase the representation of suitably qualified people from designated groups in the workplace are some of the affirmative action measures that designated employers are empowered to implement.5 The Employment Equity Amendment Act6 (EEAA) will introduce a shift in South Africa’s approach to transformation of workplaces from a self regulated approach to a statutorily prescribed approach in terms of which the Minister of Employment and Labour will prescribe sectorial targets which each economic sector will be required to comply with. The acceleration of workplace transformation is crucial to address previous disadvantages. However, the statutorily prescribed approach to affirmative action may not be an appropriate approach for South Africa in circumstances where the EEA has not be utilised to its full potential and the new approach may pose a risk to employees’ right to equality.en© 2024 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.UCTDffirmative ActionEmployment Equity Amendment ActWorkplace TransformationSectorial TargetsDissertationUniversity of the Witwatersrand, JohannesburgSDG-10: Reduced inequalities