The African National Congress (ANC) said on Wednesday that the latest Employment Equity Report painted a picture of “persistent and deep-rooted inequalities” towards South Africa’s transformation project.

This comes after labour minister Mildred Oliphant on Tuesday released the 17th Employment Equity Report which showed that white people occupied 68 percent of the of the country’s top management positions in the public and private sectors.

White people were six times more economically active as a population as Africans who only made up 14.4 percent of top management, with the majority of black people dominating the unskilled labour at 83 percent.

The ANC said in a statement on Wednesday that this flew in the face of the call made by former president Nelson Mandela to unite for success.

“Resistance and blatant disregard of the interventions introduced by the ANC-led government to drive redress, transformation and equity in the workplace is a stark indicator of how some amongst us remain contemptuous of the aspirations of the black majority, and Africans in particular,” the ANC said.

“It is further a rejection of efforts of our constitutional commitment to “heal the divisions of the past… improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person. The South African majority enjoys political freedom which daily is being proven hollow without concomitant economic freedom, justice and redress.”

The ANC called on government to demonstrate greater urgency and decisiveness in dealing with errant employers resistant to change.

“Compliance with employment equity and affirmative action legislation is not an ‘optional extra’ for companies operating in South Africa, but an imperative. It is clear that it cannot be left up to capital to ‘self-correct’ or ‘self-regulate’. History, and this Employment Equity report has shown, that many corporates pay lip service to racial and gender transformation of their management structures,” the ANC said.

“We must also consider greater consequence management beyond fining for non-compliance, to include judicial action for behaviour which is contrary to the spirit of the Constitution which has as one of its fundamental values the achievement of equality.”

Oliphant said government would also name and shame those companies who were disdainful to the transformative agenda and the department was considering adopting harsher consequences for non-compliance.