Employment Equity Realisation: Assessing the Bridges and Barriers in the eThekwini Municipality of South Africa

The increasing pressures on the South African government to re-strategize its employment equity policy and ensure people of different races and gender are appropriately represented in employment opportunities are still without barriers. This study interrogates the bridges and barriers to the realisation of employment equity in the eThekwini municipality of South Africa. Remarking on the discourse of employment equity, sparse research attention has been given to the bridges and barriers of employment equity, specifically in the context of the eThekwini municipality of South Africa. To address this gap, the study assesses employment equity programmes that propel employment equity and the challenges constricting the realisation of employment equity in the eThekwini municipality. A total of 15 senior managers were purposively recruited and the semi-structured interview type employed to elicit qualitative data. The data were analysed for the identification of themes with the NVivo (v.12) qualitative software and the various themes analysed with the content qualitative analytical tool. Inclusive initiatives, sufficient budget and women empowerment were shown as important employment equity programmes employed in the municipality. Difficulty in recruiting and retaining scare skills, lack of clarity and commitment to employment equity policy and political leadership and corruption were revealed as constraints to employment equity targets. The study concludes on the need for a more proactive effort on the part of the South African Department of Labour in monitoring and evaluating compliance to employment equity targets with commitment to scarce skills identification and continuous awareness to encourage more women and designated groups into the employment equity folds.