The African National Congress (ANC) on Tuesday condemned the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) constitutional challenge against the Employment Equity Amendment Act (EEAA), describing it as an attempt to undermine the Act and a direct assault on the foundation of South Africa’s transformation journey.

The DA will argue in court on Tuesday against what it believes is the introduction of rigid national race quotas in the workplace.

The DA will be taking Minister of Employment and Labour Nomakhosazana Meth to court over Section 15A of the Act’s alleged violation of Section 9 of the Constitution, which it says represents a “radical and harmful” departure from previous employment equity law.

Last week, DA spokesperson on Employment and Labour Michael Bagraim said the quotas would “destroy jobs, undermine the economy, and violate the constitutional rights of all South Africans”.

ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the DA was taking “regressive action” which she said was an affront to the Constitution and undermined the sacrifices made by those who fought against apartheid.

“The National Constitution has correctly defined black as inclusive of Africans, coloureds and Indians. The DA’s court challenge against Section 15A of the EEAA which introduces sector-specific numerical targets to correct racial imbalances in the workplace reveals its enduring opposition to redress and equality,” said Bhengu-Motsiri.

She said the DA’s campaign to label this legislation as “anti-merit” was a “wilful distortion of reality”.

“. . . it ignores the brutal legacy of Apartheid, which for centuries denied black South Africans the right to land, quality education, employment, and dignity. In such a context, talking about ‘merit’ without transformation is an insult to the millions who remain excluded,” she explained.

The Employment Equity Act was not about quotas, but about justice, she said, adding that it aimed to correct structural imbalances in the economy and ensure that all South Africans had a fair shot at opportunity.

She argued that Section 15A did not eliminate merit but created the conditions in which merit could be meaningfully pursued by addressing the under-representation of Africans, coloured, and Indian South Africans in key sectors of the economy.

“This is a constitutional imperative, not a political favour. We must remind the DA and its allies that South Africa’s Constitution explicitly recognises the need to redress past injustices and to achieve substantive equality,” she said.

DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille pointed out on Monday that her party supported a redress system that encouraged economic growth, created hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and significantly improved the education and training system.

But she described the Amendment Act as draconian and said it fell far short of the required constitutional benchmark.

However, Bhengu-Motsiri said the EEAA was a critical tool in realising the vision for equality, particularly as white South Africans, who make up less than 8% of the population, still dominate top management positions in the private sector.

“The DA's persistent campaign against transformation reveals its dangerous agenda to entrench the privileges of the past and preserve the Apartheid-era economic status quo under the guise of constitutionalism. It is a betrayal of the democratic gains we have made and a slap in the face of the black working class, women, and the youth who continue to bear the brunt of inequality and unemployment,” she stated.