• Examine 20 employment equity reports submitted to the department of Labour through gender lens.
• Examine the degree of compliance with the Employment Equity Act.
• Examine closely the positions of women in the various occupational levels as compared to men.
• Examine the traditionally male dominated sectors and determine if women are penetrating these sectors and vice versa.
• Observe trends the traditionally male and female dominated industries in regards to the gender nature of leadership.

• Women are still concentrated in traditionally "feminine" of female dominated sectors
• Concerns such as sexual harassment, women’s access to finance, procurement procedures and entrepreneurship were raised.
• In particular, it was suggested that CGE be involved in the monitoring the implementation of the Employment Equity Act.

In addition to the above, the CGE has kept abreast of recent studies which have shown that there are still concerns in regards to women and the workplace:

South African Women in Corporate Leadership Census (2004) - commissioned by Businesswoman’s Association of South Africa (BWASA) revealed that:

• Women make up 52% of the population but 41% of the South African working population.
• 14.7% of all executive managers are women and 7.1% of all directors in the country are women.
• Of the 3125 directorship positions held, only 221 are held by women.
• Of the 364 listed companies and state-owned enterprises in South Africa, only 7 have female CEOs and 60% have no females on their boards at all.
• The census found that almost two-thirds of companies in South Africa have no women in top positions. While 59.5% of these companies had no women directors, only 4.9% had 3 or more women directors.

South Africa ranked third in the world as the country with the highest proportion of companies employing female senior managers. According to the statistics, 75% of companies in South Africa employ women in senior management positions. However, delving deeper in the methodology of the survey, companies only needed to have one (1) woman at senior management level in order to qualify as a company that employs women at senior management level. In actuality, 26% of senior managements positions in South Africa are filled by women.

• Men hold 88% of all top management positions in South Africa, compared to 12% for women
• Women (all colours) hold 38% of the management (top and senior) and professional category in the labour market
• In the top management level, women hold 12% of jobs
• Women hold 38% of all skilled jobs compared to 62% by men

From the 6990 employers who submitted Employment Equity Reports:

• Females account for 14% and males 86% of all top management positions
• Females account for 21% and males 79% of all senior management positions
• Females account for 19% and males 81% of all top management recruits
• Females account for 29% and males 71% of all senior management recruits
• Females account for 20% and males 80% of all top management promotions
• Females account for 26% and males 74% of all senior management promotions

• The research is a pilot study. The sample is very small and it may not be possible to make conclusive statements about any one particular sector. However, if the findings of this sample reveals concerns, then it forms a basis for a much broader study with an increased sample size.

Twenty companies were selected from a range of sectors, some traditionally male dominated and other traditionally female dominated.

• Of the 365 top management positions in the companies surveyed, only 29 (8%) of them are filled by women
• Of the 1533 senior management positions in the companies surveyed, only 336 (21%) are filled by women

• Of the 365 top management positions in the companies surveyed, only 19 (5%) of them are filled by white women
• Of the 365 top management positions in the companies surveyed, only 11 (3%) of them are filled by black women
• Of the 1533 top senior management positions in the companies surveyed, only 224 (14.6%) of them are filled by white women
• Of the 1533 top senior management positions in the companies surveyed, only 117 (7.6%) of them are filled by black women

• Of the 365 top management positions in the companies surveyed, only 44 (12%) of them are filled by black men
• Of the 1533 senior management positions in the companies surveyed, only 360 (23%) are filled by black men

• In all the companies surveyed male employees (both black and white) outnumbered female employees at top and senior management level.

• 80% of the companies surveyed showed women employees concentrated at the semi-skilled occupational level while 20% showed women employees concentrated at the junior management level.

• 70% of the companies surveyed showed black women employees concentrated at the semi-skilled occupational level, while 15% were concentrated at the junior management level. A further 15% were concentrated at the unskilled occupational level.

• Building and construction companies such as Amitech SA and Columbia DBL which are traditionally male-dominated industries, showed 95% and 89% of employees to be male respectively.

• In the case of Amitech SA, 10% of the male employee population was located at senior management positions while the total number of female employees were located at the semi-skilled occupational level.

• At Columbia DBL, 5% of the male employee population was located at the senior management level and the majority at the unskilled level. Of the 12% female employee population of Columbia DBL, 1.4 % were at the senior management level and the majority (7.7%) at the semi-skilled occupational level.

• In male-dominated industry such as mining (De Beers), the number of women employees at top management is nil as compared to 6 for men and 9 senior management female employees as compared to 176 senior management male employees.

• A stronger gendered focus of the concept, climate and implementation of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE). BEE is still considered to be benefiting Black middle class men and if it is meant to be broad-based, a gendered analysis of women’s lives must take place. The next area of focus will be a gendered analysis of BEE as the CGE has already been in collaborative talks with the Black Management Forum.
• The Employment Equity reporting procedure is largely quantitative. There is an assumption that greater number of women in management positions suggest a more gender-sensitive climate. This is obviously not always the case. Reporting should include, in a detailed manner, what, if any aspects of gender-mainstreaming have been achieved.
• Further to the above point, companies should be strongly encouraged to be implement the South African National Framework for Gender Equality (Gender Policy Framework). In this way, there is a committed effort to include qualitative initiatives such as gender mainstreaming with quantitative initiatives such as Employment Equity.
• It is very unclear if there are follow-ups on what companies report, especially in respect to the Employment Equity Plans that companies produce. There need to be stronger accountability methods for companies to commit to and realise the plan they have submitted.
• In cases where organisations employ large amounts of non-permanent staff, the demographics and positions held are not reflected in the report. Hence, there may be to a high degree, inadequate representation of previously disadvantaged groups within the non-permanent employees. There is also a potential to conceal exploitation of particular groups accompanied by this manner of reporting. This casualisation often affects women disproportionately and the lack of security and absence of benefits has huge implications for women. Forms should be amended to reflect details on non-permanent employees.
• We propose a stronger collaboration with the Employment Equity Commission in an effort to strengthen the level of gender analysis of the Employment Equity Reports as they are received.
• More frequent engagements with the Trade Union Movement to identify gaps and determine intervention initiatives.
• There should more frequent awards of excellence for companies who have successfully implemented Employment Equity, thus providing incentives for other companies to follow suit.