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ARTICLE · 17 SEPTEMBER 2026

Update: Employment Equity And Compliance

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr
Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr
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Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr

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South Africa's 26th Commission for Employment Equity Annual Report reveals a dramatic 48.4% decline in employment equity reporting following legislative amendments, while introducing a new compliance certificate regime that fundamentally alters how employers access state business opportunities. With six constitutional challenges now before the courts and new sectoral numerical targets in force...

South AfricaEmployment and HR
Anli Bezuidenhout
Anli Bezuidenhout

The 26th Annual Report of the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE), published under the theme “Bridging the Equity Gap Through Diversity & Inclusion,” paints a picture of a labour market in transition. The Employment Equity Amendment Act No. 4 of 2022 and its accompanying Employment Equity Regulations, including five-year sectoral numerical targets for eighteen economic sectors, came into effect on 1 January 2025 and 15 April 2025, respectively, ushering in a tighter compliance environment.

The report records that 15,090 employment equity reports were received in 2025, a decline of 48.4% from the 29,269 reports received in 2024. This significant reduction is attributable to the amendments excluding employers with between one and 49 employees from the reporting obligation. Nevertheless, the total number of employees covered by the reports stood at 6,896,041. Meanwhile, representation of employees with disabilities remained at 1.3% of the total workforce across the private sector and

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