Setting the Record Straight: Why Employment Equity Plans Cannot Be Shortened to Two Years

John Botha
Jun 2
3 min read

A concerning statement recently emerged at a Department of Employment and Labour Employment Equity Roadshow, where a presenter suggested that employment equity plans could be implemented for periods shorter than five years, specifically citing a two-year example. This assertion fundamentally contradicts South Africa's employment equity legislation and could lead employers into potential non-compliance with their legal obligations.

The Legislative Reality: Five Years is Non-Negotiable

The 2022 Amendment to the Employment Equity Act, along with its accompanying regulations, has established an unambiguous legal framework that mandates five-year employment equity plans. This requirement is not a suggestion or guideline—it is a binding legal obligation with significant compliance implications.

Statutory Foundation: Section 15A and the Sectoral Target System

The Employment Equity Act's Section 15A, introduced through the 2022 amendments, empowers the Minister to identify national economic sectors and set numerical targets for employment equity purposes. These sectoral targets operate on a fixed five-year cycle, currently spanning from 2025 to 2030. This temporal framework forms the cornerstone of the entire employment equity planning system.

The legislation's architecture is deliberately interconnected. Section 20(2A) explicitly mandates that employers' numerical goals "must comply with any sectoral target in terms of section 15A that applies to that employer." This creates a legal chain of obligation that ties individual employer plans directly to the five-year sectoral framework.

Regulatory Clarity: No Room for Interpretation

Regulation 9 of the Employment Equity Regulations removes any ambiguity about plan duration. Regulation 9(1) states categorically that "designated employers must prepare and implement an EE Plan for the period from 1 September 2025 until 31 August 2030." The use of "must" rather than "may" or "should" indicates this is a mandatory requirement, not a discretionary option.

The regulation further reinforces this requirement in subsection (2), which specifies that employers becoming designated after 1 April 2025 must prepare an employment equity plan "for the remainder of the period until 31 August 2030." This provision demonstrates that even employers entering the system mid-cycle cannot opt for shorter planning periods—they must align with the established five-year framework.

The EEA13 Template: Structural Requirements for Five-Year Planning

The prescribed EEA13 template, which employers must use for their employment equity plans, is structurally designed around five-year planning cycles. The template explicitly requires employers to specify start and end dates aligned to five-year sector targets, and states unequivocally that "affirmative action measures, numerical goals and the annual targets in this EE Plan must be aligned to the sector targets (i.e. the 5-year sector target)."

The template's design necessitates detailed annual target setting across five years, with specific sections requiring objectives for Years 1 through 5, and numerical targets presented in multiple tables covering the entire planning period. This structural requirement makes it practically impossible to complete the mandatory template for a shorter period while maintaining compliance with sectoral targets.

The Need for Accurate Guidance

There is a critical need for consistent, accurate guidance from the Department of Employment and Labour, especially in times of uncertainty and change.

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