'Shamed' firms get more flak
Johannesburg - The Employment Equity Commission (EEC) insists that it correctly identified companies it says have failed to comply with employment equity reporting procedures and warns that evaders will be charged with fraud.
"We stand by what we are saying, what we reported is 100% accurate," said EEC chairperson Jimmy Manyi on Wednesday.
"As the committee that advises the minister on employment equity matters, we do not apologise for the advice we gave him and we stand by it.
"In fact, there are tougher measures to come. We have discovered that many companies are flouting the law by reporting in a manner that tries to circumvent the law."
He warned that those who did not comply could face charges of fraud.
Companies produced proof of compliance
On Monday, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said he had a list of companies that were not complying with equity legislation by failing to submit the required documentation.
The department had a list of 1 000 companies, including 13 listed on the JSE, which it said had not submitted their equity reports last year.
On Wednesday, Business Day reported that several of the large companies accused of non-compliance produced proof that they had complied and that the department had acknowledged receipt of their reports.
These included the JSE-listed African Bank, Ceramic Industries, Netcare, Tongaat-Hulett, Ellerine Holdings and Gold Fields.
Companies filed documents under different names
Manyi said some companies had apparently filed documents under different names.
He said there were two main problems - one with companies that were listed on the JSE under one name, but submitted reports under a different one, and another with companies that split themselves up into smaller entities of fewer than 150 employees to avoid the necessity of complying.
"In the database of the department of labour we have Ceramic Industries... we then find that in 2005 there is no report from Ceramic Industries."
He said the company reported under that name in 2004 then reported as National Ceramic Industries without informing the Employment Equity Registry.
"We wrote to these companies saying, please clarify," said Manyi.
"We wrote to 1 296 companies and a whole lot of them responded. These ones did not respond."
Posted by: www.SouthAfrica-CarHire.com
EEC, BEE, JSE, oi vay. Just hire the correct person for the job. Car Rental agents apply here
Click Click... Vroom, Vroom
