By Johannah Malogadihlare
Solidarity has threatened court action against President Cyril Ramaphosa for allegedly being in contempt of court regarding regulations related to the Employment Equity Act.
The union said on Wednesday that it had written to Ramaphosa urging him to implement an agreement before turning to the courts.
The agreement was concluded on 28 June 2023, under the supervision of the United Nations’ (UN’s) International Labour Organisation and facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). It was also made an order of the court.
In terms of the court order, the agreement must be published together with the regulations of the Act, which had already been developed in 2023. The final regulations were published on 15 April 2025, but only a small number of the provisions of the agreement were published.
“The government unilaterally removed provisions, such as that race laws must be temporary, that no one may be fired based on race laws and that employers are obligated to take into account the inherent requirements of a job and the pool of available skills,” said Solidarity CEO Dirk Hemann.
The deal followed the union filing a complaint with the ILO, which suggested a mediation process between Solidarity and the government. The union agreed and the government suggested that the CCMA should facilitate this.
Hermann said after months of mediation, a deal was reached and signed at a public event by Solidarity Movement chairperson Flip Buys and former labour minister Thulas Nxesi.
He said the minister would be added as a second respondent if the case went ahead.
According to Solidarity, the agreement has been published in its entirety in the draft regulations. However, when the final regulations were published, large parts of the deal were omitted, despite the court order.
“Therefore, the government deliberately decided to omit sections. We are deeply disappointed that the government does not adhere to agreements that have been reached,” said Hermann.
“President Ramaphosa regularly says that South African problems must be solved in South Africa, but this is impossible if the government is not a reliable partner.”
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