Cape Town, 26 July 2023: The Democratic Alliance (DA) marched through the streets of Cape Town to parliament to protest what they allege are “race based quotas” in the new amendments to the Employment Equity Act. Both the labour minister, Thulas Nxesi, and independent labour experts have debunked these claims as political opportunism ahead of the 2024 national elections.

Federal Chairperson of the DA, Dr Ivan Meyer, addressed hundreds of DA supporters outside parliament saying: “One of the principles of the Democratic Alliance is non-racialism drawing from the constitution of South Africa because we in the DA believes that race divides.”

DA appointed executive mayor of Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis, says: “The reason we’re able to get better outcomes in Cape Town and the Western Cape is because we do not hire people on the basis of race.”

The purpose of the amendments according to government and independent experts is to increase black representation in major sectors of the economy according to provincial and national demographics.

South Africa’s white minority are less than 10% of the population. In a 2022 research paper by Africa Check it stated the following “In 2021, economically active white South Africans made up just 8.8% of the total economically active population, but held 66.2% of top management positions in the private sector.”