SAfrica affirmative action to stay business body

CAPE TOWN, Sep 11 (Reuters) The policy of affirmative action in South Africa will remain, despite calls from some labour unions to end it, the chief executive of Business Unity SA (Busa) told parliament today.

Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the government has deliberately targeted blacks, women and the disabled for preferential treatment when it came to jobs which they previously had no access to.

Companies in South Africa are required to have a certain number of black people at the management and senior level, which is representative of the country's demographics.

But some labour unions representing mainly white people have said the South African work force is already transformed and have called for a sunset clause on affirmative action.

''We are hearing voices that are saying maybe we should talk about an end date for affirmative action,'' said Busa chief executive Jerry Vilakazi during a presentation to parliament's labour committee.

''This matter was deliberated at council level at Busa and a decision was taken that, that question doesn't arise at this stage at all,'' he said.

''We are at a stage where all of us should be focussing on ensuring that affirmative action is implemented across the board, and that is the position we have as Busa,'' Vilakazi said.

Busa represents a large number of employers associations and professional bodies, including chambers of commerce.

Vilakazi said the number of black executives in top management jumped to 22.7 per cent in 2006, from 12.7 per cent in 2000, but it was not ''satisfactory'' that blacks made up 26.9 per cent of senior managers, from 18.5 per cent in 2000.

He said Busa would also seek ways of improving the number of women executives in the private sector. The private sector lags state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by 21 per cent in its promotion of women into senior positions.

''Although women representatives on boards of JSE-listed companies increased by 1.1 per cent to 10.3 per cent, SOEs continue to outperform their private sector counterparts ... with 31.3 per cent of all director positions held by women,'' he said.

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