Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), a lobby group of large corporate interests, has turned to the courts to challenge the process and substance of recently published Employment Equity (EE) Sector Targets, which came into effect at the start of September. While reiterating its nominal commitment to transformation and the principles underpinning the Employment Equity Amendment Act, BUSA argues that the current sectoral targets are so deeply flawed that they risk undermining the country’s economy.

In a statement, BUSA said that it had participated in engagement forums with the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL), government, and labour partners in pursuit of a workable framework for equity. However, the organisation’s CEO, Khulekani Mathe, says the process that led to the publication of the sector targets was “not meaningful consultation; it was a presentation”. BUSA contends that the manner in which the targets were developed and imposed failed basic standards of good faith engagement, transparency, and legality.

Central to BUSA’s legal argument is the charge that consultation was superficial and rushed. Employers were given less than a week to respond, with most only receiving draft targets the night before meetings. “As social partners, we cannot allow performative engagement to substitute for genuine collaboration,” Mathe said.

The business group also highlights that the government had failed to provide adequate information on how targets were set. In one example, the disability employment target was raised to 3%, but no underlying data or rationale was shared, despite the government acknowledging limited disability statistics in South Africa. “If targets are unrealistic or not based on the skills available in each sector, companies may find themselves unable to comply. This creates uncertainty and weakens the integrity of the regulatory process,” Mathe cautioned.

Other unresolved concerns include the lack of sectoral analysis to determine whether targets are practical for specific industries, a “one-size-fits-all” approach that ignores the realities of different subsectors, and confusion created by conflicting compliance frameworks, particularly where EE targets were not aligned with other black empowerment codes.

BUSA’s application to the courts is not, it insists, an attack on transformation itself. Rather, it is a call for the regulatory process to be evidence-based, lawful, and rooted in a genuine partnership among government, business, and labour. “The need for transformation is urgent, but urgency must not become recklessness,” Mathe said. “Unworkable targets do not advance transformation. They deepen frustration and erode trust in public policy.”