Surprising employment equity trends in SA - BWA census

In spite of these encouraging figures, a huge disparity still exists in terms of salary levels, as male civil servants/men in Government still earn far more than their female counterparts at senior management level.

Official results were announced at a presentation held at the Nedbank Head Office in Sandton, Johannesburg, where the CEO of the Businesswomen's Association, Yvette Montalbano, unpacked the 2008 census and introduced the government element, which has previously not formed part of the census.

Now in its fifth year, the census report revealed that Government's advancement of women in terms of employment equity is higher than in other sectors traditionally measured in the census, namely JSE Listed companies and State Owned Enterprises.

On the corporate side, the census revealed that, although there has been a steady increase in the employment of women in top executive positions, women are still lagging behind their male counterparts within corporate South Africa.

“The results are positive but they also show that we still have a long way to go. In most of the corporate categories, there has been a very slight increase over the previous years and whilst we are encouraged we can not allow ourselves to become complacent. Furthermore, we remain adamant that a split along racial lines, as advocated last year by the Employment Equity Commission, will not help our cause at all because women of all races and colours continue to be discriminated against and overlooked in corporate South Africa. Our figures bear testimony to this,” said Montalbano.

Significant increase

On the upside, the 2008 census reveals a significant increase in the number of corporates employing 25% or more women directors and executive managers - from 31 companies in 2007 to 58 companies in 2008, an improvement of almost 87%.

BWA president Basetsana Kumalo applauded these companies for their pro-active stance. “This increase in the number of ‘top performing companies', as defined by the census, demonstrates that change is happening in the corporate sector, albeit at a slow pace. The top performing companies list has almost doubled over the past year and such developments spur us on as we continue to fight for the rights of women in corporate South Africa.

“We extend our congratulations to those companies that have made it onto this prestigious list and we say ‘well done' to those that have remained on the list since the inception of this initiative.

“We are also greatly encouraged by the public sector which has demonstrated how true gender equality should be achieved. Our attempt to make government accountable by introducing the Women in Government Leadership element in the 2008 census has got off to an excellent start as the figures are beyond our expectations. Although salary levels are still disproportionate, accolades still need to go to our government for believing in South Africa's women and providing them with opportunities for career growth and self development,” she said.

A detailed analysis of government data shows that the number of women in Government across all salary levels totals 649 718 in comparison with 536 688 men. In terms of racial groups, white females stand at 56.7%, while coloured and black women follow closely behind with representation at 55.2% and 54.8% respectively. The Asian group stands at 47.4%.

Montalbano also highlighted the fact that the biggest disparity in Government exists when looking at salary levels. ““Men hold the majority of senior management positions at 67.8% and therefore get the bulk of the reward. This is alarming and needs to be corrected going forward,” she said.

The quantitative study, commissioned by the Businesswomen's Association and traditionally sponsored by Nedbank, was first published in 2004 and examines the advancement of women in South Africa's major corporate and state-owned enterprises.

The latest results are based on data valid as at 30 September 2007.

This year's census received further impetus with additional sponsorship from the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP), a provincial government agency that provides various forms of support to SMME's in Gauteng. With the commitment and support of both Nedbank and the GEP, the BWA was able to add value to the exercise and widen the scope of the census.

The 2008 census measured 335 South African companies, and of these, 318 were JSE listed companies with the remaining 17 being state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

Key findings

Key findings of the 2008 Census are highlighted below:

Corporate
• While women make up 51% of the adult population in South Africa and only 42,4% of the working population, they constitute only 25.3% of all executive managers and only 14,3% of all directors in the country.
  
• The percentage of female executive management has increased from 14.7% in 2004 to 25.3% in 2008. In real terms this number has grown from 739 women to 1227 women.
  
• The total number of women directors has increased from 221 in 2004 to 419 female directors in 2008, a percentage increase from 7.1% to 14.3%.
  
• The total number of CEO's has increased from seven to 13, but this however only represents a change from 1.9% to 3.9%.
  
• The number of female chairs of boards has increased from 11 to 13, which has actually only moved the overall percentage from 3% to 3.9%.
  
• The SOEs have moved well ahead of the JSE-listed entities. All 17 (100%) SOEs now have three or more female directors on their executive. This momentum of transformation must now be encouraged within the JSE listed corporates, where 39.6% of JSE listed companies still have zero (0%) female directors on their executive.

  Government

• The majority of women in Government, across all salary levels, are black, with the highest percentage of 95.5% being in the ‘other' bracket (ie cleaners, farm hands, drivers etc) and lower skilled bracket at 89.2%.
  
• At the most senior level (levels 13-16) of the 2 659 women, 62.6% are black and 22.8% are white.
  
• In Government, as in the corporate sector, women are underrepresented at senior management level when comparing 67.8% of men to 32.2% women.
  
• The majority of women across all provinces are employed in the level 6-8 salary bracket (highly skilled production), with the Eastern Cape leading with 53 854 women out of a total of 82 813.
  
• KwaZulu-Natal employs the highest number of women across all provinces, with 119 428 from a total of 649 718.
  
• The Department of Safety and Security has the largest number of women in its employ (40.1%) when compared to other national departments.

Commenting on the results, Nombulelo Moholi, Nedbank director: group strategy and corporate affairs, acknowledged there was definitely room for improvement in the performance of the private sector. “Although there may be fewer opportunities for new appointments in the current economic climate, we believe that women are well-placed to reap the benefits of the strong emphasis on skills development that is in evidence.”

Further insights into the census results were provided during a panel discussion which comprised Niven Postma from GIBS; Thoko Mokgosi-Mwantembe, 2007 Businesswoman of the Year Award winner in the corporate category; Brian Khumalo of Leaders Unlimited; Dr Renate Volpe from HIRS; Nombulelo Moholi from Nedbank; and economist Mohau Pheko.