The aims of the study were to determine if unfair discrimination in employment is being eliminated; to establish if a diverse workforce representative of the population is in the process of being achieved, and to find out if economic development and efficiency in the workplace is being promoted. The study made use of the organizational survey research method. Organizational surveys are powerful in: identification of opportunities for improvement, reality check, determining if a strategy is outdated and needs to change, measurement of performance improvements, changing mind-set of management, where necessary, increasing the commitment of people in the organization. The sample consisted of 166 participants. These participants comprised of 110 employees described as Crew Members and 56 employees described as Officers. All races were represented within the sample. In a population of 166 staff members at Natal Sharks Board, a sample of forty (40) participants was randomly selected. The sample was further subdivided into 20 Crew members and 20 Officers. The former 20 participants (Crew) were interviewed through medium of IsiZulu because most of them could not read or write. The latter 20 participants (Officers) were given questionnaires to fill-in. These questionnaires were in English. All 20 participants are competent English-speakers and could read and write. Data gathering took three weeks to complete. Collected data was analysed through quantitative and qualitative methods. The results and the findings of the study were presented according to the aims of the study. The findings according to aim number one, that is, to determine if unfair discrimination in employment is being eliminated; show that there is a change to eliminate discrimination at Sharks Board. The second aim, that is, to establish if a diverse workforce representative of the population is in the process of being achieved; show that there is a change in the diversity of the workforce. The last aim of the study, that is, to find out if economic development and efficiency in the workplace is being promoted at Sharks Board; shows that this process has began. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

The research problem in this study was to analyse how the new constitutional, legal and political arrangements have influenced public policy-making in the department of labour with specific reference to the Employment Equity Act. To achieve this objective a theory for analysing policy–making process was presented. Corporatist theory is based on the following assumptions: Public policy is shaped by interaction between the state and interest groups. The state licences behaviour of interested organizations by attributing public status to them Policy-making is based on interest groups bargaining across a broad range of issues. The groups are functionally interdependent to enhance social stability. The groups use consensus in making decisions. Decision-making is centralised, it is done by leaders. The groups are bureaucratic in organization. The groups must be recorgnised by the state so that they can be allowed representation. The research questions that arise are: (1) Who sets the agenda for policy formulation? (2) How is the policy formulated? (3) how are the decisions taken? (4) How is the policy implemented? (5) How is the policy monitored? The objective of this study analyse how constitutional, legal and political changes have influenced public policy formulation in the Department of Labour with specific reference to the Employment Equity Act. Policy–making processes in the South African arena and factors that led to the promulgation of Employment Equity Act were discussed. This study was a qualitative design. Purposive sampling was used in the selection of five participants who were interviewed. All interviews were transcribed verbatim. Data was analysed as described by Rubin and Rubin (1995:260) The result negated some of the assumptions of corporatist theory and others concurred with the theory. The findings of the study revealed that policy formulation in the Department of Labour is as a result of constitutional, and international conventions obligations. The findings further revealed that policy-information is institutionalised and there are competing interests due to divergent ideological orientations, different social backgrounds; racial differences; different; political beliefs; different class background; different historical backgrounds, and gender differences. (v) The formulation of the act was also characterised by advocacy, adversarism, stereotyping, alliances and consensus. These organisations. were bureaucratic and decisions were centralised. This study recommended a theory and the theory postulates that “public policy is the product of the social, economic, political, cultural, technolergical, and natural conditions of a given society in a particular epoch or period in the historical development of the particular nation or society and is influenced by dominant national and international forces and these influences may be cultural, economically, social, politically, technological, and type and system of government.

The term affirmative action originated in the United States some 30 years ago to describe a process of liberating minority groups. The objective of affirmative action within an organisational context, is to democratise the workplace by enabling members of previously disadvantaged groups to progress higher up the ranks of the corporate world. The affirmative action drive only took off in South Africa when it became part of the democratisation process and the focus was directed towards liberating the historically disadvantaged black majority. Prior to 1994, the reasons for implementing affirmative action programmes were largely political because of the race-based discrimination. Historically disadvantaged people were a minority in senior positions, the reason being that although the blacks were given a chance to compete with their white counterparts, due to their poor education standards and lack of experience only a few was appointed. The Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 aims to correct the demographic imbalances in the nation’s workforce by compelling employers to remove barriers to advancement of blacks, coloureds, Indians, women and disabled, and actively to advance them in all categories of employment by affirmative action. The Employment Equity Act consists of two main sections. The first replaces and refines the prohibition on unfair discrimination in item 2(1)(a) of Schedule 7 of the Labour Relations Act. The second aspect deals with imposing a duty to the employers to adopt affirmative action programmes. The Employment Equity Act places a positive obligation on all employers “to promote equal opportunity in the workplace by eliminating unfair discrimination in any employment policy or practice”. Where unfair discrimination is alleged, the onus of proving that discrimination is fair, or practice is not discriminatory at all, rests upon the employer. Disputes about unfair discrimination must be referred to the CCMA, and if not settled by conciliation, to the Labour Court, which has the power to order compensation or the payment iv of damages, or to direct the employer to take steps to prevent the same unfair discrimination or similar practice occurring in the future in respect of other employees. The second section of the Employment Equity Act deals with the imposition of the duty to designated employers to adopt affirmative action programmes. All employers with more than 50 employees, or which have annual turnovers equal to or above the annual turnovers for small businesses of their class, municipalities, organs of state, and those designated as such by collective agreement, must implement affirmative action measures for people from designated groups. This entails consulting with employers, conducting an analysis of employment policies, practices, procedures and the working environment to identify barriers, drawing up employment equity plans and reporting thereafter to the Director-General of the Department of Labour on progress made in implementing the plan. Any employee may bring alleged contraventions of the Act to the attention of the employer, another employee, or any trade union, workplace forum, labour inspector or the Director- General of the Employment Equity Commission. Labour inspectors appointed under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act may enter and inspect employer’s properties and documents, and are responsible for ensuring that the employer has consulted with employees as required, conducted the pre-equity plan analysis prepared its plan and is implementing it, submitted and published its reports, set up the necessary managerial infrastructure, and informed its employees of progress. Should employers be found not to have complied with these requirements, labour inspectors must request a written undertaking that they will do so. If an employer fails to give such an undertaking, the labour inspector can issue a compliance order setting out inter alia what steps the employer must take and when, and the maximum fine, if any, that can be imposed if the employer fails to comply. If the employer does not pay attention to the compliance order within the prescribed period, the Director-General may apply to have it made an order of the Labour Court. The Director-General may also conduct independent ad hoc reviews of selected designated employers. Failure by an employer to comply with the provision of the Act lead to the employer being liable for the contravention of the Act.

The study involves an assessment of the effectiveness of Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998 (EEA) in the South African public service, with specific reference to the Department of Agriculture (DoA) and problems the DoA encounters in realising the main objectives of the abovementioned Act. The research comprises both normative and empirical aspects of the EEA in the public service (specifically DoA). Employment Equity Act (Act 55 of 1998), in the agriculture sector has produced mixed results. There is a perception that the number of women in middle and senior management positions has slightly improved, as appears in the DoA organisational chart. Others perceive the Act as flawed in its design and implementation, due to the fact that the number of disabled employees in the middle and senior management levels is hardly visible on the organisational chart. The purpose of this research is to ascertain whether the DoA has been able to meet or implement the dictates of the EEA. Mostly, this research aims to look at ways in which the EEA can best be implemented, so that it functions as effectively as possible and to ensure that the Act yields the desired results. The fact that the DoA has not managed to reach the EEA target to employ disabled and women (though the number of women in senior positions has slightly improved) to senior positions, necessitates the need of this study. And mostly by the fact that EEA plays a pivotal role in ensuring equity in the DoA, which has in the past been perceived by some as the one dominated by a certain racial group. The specific objectives of this study are: <ul> <li>To explore difficulties that adversely impact on the effectiveness of the Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998 in Department of Agriculture especially with regards to disabled officials.</li> <li>To determine if there is a disparity in the views of management and employees (both able-bodies and disabled employees) with regard to the effectiveness of Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998 and problems experienced.</li> <li>To established levels of satisfaction of employees (designated groups)with the Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998 and employees within the work environment.</li> </ul> This study will also make use of qualitative and quantitative research methods. Both Primary and Secondary research will be conducted to obtain the information needed to meet the objectives of the research. This research is important for the DoA because, the issue of EEA and other related issues such as Affirmative Action (AA) have been a thorny issue to others, while others embrace it. The importance of this research is further exacerbated by the fact that it sets forth a clear picture of the impact the Act in question made in its quest to ensure equity in the workplace. In summary this study attempts to shed some light on the effectiveness of EEA and to determine whether the desired effects of EEA have been achieved by the DoA. / Dissertation (MAdmin)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA) / unrestricted

Thesis (M. Comm.)--University of South Africa, 2002.

Affirmative action is a central concept in South African politics and the workplace. The Employment Equity Act divides society into a designated group (blacks, women and people with disabilities) and a non-designated group (white men and white women). In this study, the influence of affirmative action on alienation of the non-designated group was investigated. Guidelines were also developed for employers in order to lead the non-designated group from a state of alienation to that of commitment. Two research questions were investigated: • Does affirmative action lead to the alienation of the non-designated group? • What will guidelines for companies, with the view to address the alienation problem, look like? Three central themes appear in this study. Firstly the concept alienation was investigated. The theory of Seeman was heavily relied on. He succeeded in summarising the experience of alienation in five variants, namely powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, isolation and self-alienation. Secondly, guidelines were developed in order to lead the non-designated group from a state of alienation to that of commitment. To succeed in doing this, the industrial sociology alienation theory and the industrial psychology motivation theory were linked together. The quadruplet sisters of the motivation theory, namely motivation, work satisfaction, work involvement and organisational commitment were applied as the basis for the guidelines. Thirdly, affirmative action was discussed in depth. The experience of the non-designated group regarding affirmative action was investigated, affirmative action as an international phenomenon was scrutinized, different methods for implementing affirmative action were researched and a study on statutory framework of affirmative action was also undertaken. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Sociology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Thesis (M. Comm.)--University of South Africa, 2002.

D.Phil / The Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Act of 2003 and the Employment Equity Act of 1998 have disrupted the labour market in South Africa by accelerating the need to appoint senior black managers in organisations. There is at the same time an undersupply of candidates meeting the requirements because of the education system and job reservation policies under the apartheid government. One of the outcomes of the operating environment is a perception that there is an abnormally high job mobility rate among senior black managers. The South African Employment Equity Act of 1998 defines blacks as Coloureds, Indians and Africans. The biggest challenge facing corporate South Africa is to retain senior black skill. The research problem the study attempts to solve is to understand factors that lead to senior black managers‟ mobility. Little research has been done in this regard. The objective of the study is to present a model that can assist in better retention of senior black managers. The model will present solutions for any sub groups that may emerge. This study also investigates the perceptions of senior black managers with regard to factors that influence their decision to change jobs.

Student Number: 0104318V - MA research report - School of Social Sciences - Faculty of Humanities / The corporate middle class, or managers, occupies a contradictory class location in capitalist relations of production. While they do not own the means of production, this class stratum is not exploited like the working class. This class position, however, is bound to be different for a black manager whose advancement in the workplace may be due to government attempts to economically empower black people to redress the injustices imposed by the racially dominated social structure of the past. Through a Weberian understanding of social stratification as based on class, social status and power, this research aims to unearth how members of the African corporate middle class understand their position and roles in South African workplaces and communities. It also goes deeper to scrutinise the impact of this structural position on their agency. It is shown that their contradictory class location is exacerbated by their race. African managers constantly negotiate their positions and roles in their workplaces and communities. Indeed, while their managerial position affords them spaces that they could not have occupied during the apartheid era, their racial character lessens their ability to manoeuvre within these spaces. This can be identified both in workplaces and communities. It is shown that their middle-class status cannot be consolidated because of their perceived lower social status and less power to influence decision making in their organisations. Furthermore, it is shown that, although not all of the interviewees moved to middle-class areas, there is an indication of alienation in previously white-only residential areas. This is further exacerbated by expectations from their former communities and members of their extended families. As a result of high levels of unemployment in African communities, members of this group are actively contributing to uplift members of their extended families.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Sociology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.