The Democratic Alliance (DA) will appear before the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday in a legal challenge against recent amendments to the Employment Equity Act, which the party claims amount to unfair and unconstitutional discrimination.
The court action, launched more than two years ago during the sixth administration, targets provisions that the DA argues effectively introduce rigid racial quotas rather than targets for workplace transformation.
Central to the party’s challenge is Section 15A of the Act, which authorizes the Minister of Labour to set sector-specific numerical targets for racial and gender representation in companies with more than 50 employees.
DA Federal Chairperson Helen Zille argues that “employment should be based on skill and merit, rather than race, gender or disability status,” adding that the current legislation will worsen unemployment instead of achieving its intended goals.
The party contends that the amendment “gives totalitarian powers of social engineering to the Minister of Labour” who can “set rigid national targets for every economic sector” with “extremely heavy fines and the risk of criminal conviction for failure to meet them.”
The DA’s legal argument focuses on what it calls “constitutional invalidity” and “abuse of state power,” claiming the legislation violates Section 9 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law and prohibits unfair discrimination.
The party also presents a technical challenge, arguing the Act was incorrectly tagged under Section 75 of the Constitution when it should have been under Section 76, as it “will profoundly affect different provinces.”
Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth has criticized the DA’s court challenge, describing it as “an attempt to maintain the inherently unfair status quo” that “actively sabotages transformation goals pursued since the end of apartheid.”
The legal battle has heightened tensions within the Government of National Unity (GNU), with questions being raised about whether this move will further strain relations between the DA and its coalition partners, particularly the ANC.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, the ANC chief whip, Mdumiseni Ntuli, and the party’s caucus are reportedly “incensed” at the DA over this latest case, with weekend reports suggesting a caucus majority wants to end the coalition.
Zille has made it clear that the DA is “not in the GNU to please the ANC,” stating that the party will remain in the coalition where it believes it can “achieve far more” than in opposition.
The legal challenge comes at a time of growing political tension over transformation policies, with the DA maintaining that the current approach will destroy jobs and drive away investment, while the ANC defends it as necessary for addressing historical inequalities.
The case highlights fundamental ideological differences between the two main coalition partners, raising questions about the long-term viability of their political arrangement in the face of divergent economic and social policies.
