Substantive equality and affirmative action in the workplace
- Authors: Nconco, Mpumelelo
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Equality before the law -- South Africa , Discrimination in employment -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Affirmative action programs -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:10196 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1617 , Equality before the law -- South Africa , Discrimination in employment -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Affirmative action programs -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Description: During the apartheid era in South Africa there was an unequivocal commitment to white supremacy, segregation and inequality. Discrimination but not on the basis of race was entrenched by the pre-democratic government. The 1980‟s saw the first steps towards reversing such practices through various measures, in the form of formal equality. Formal equality holds that the state must be act neutrally in relation to its employees and must favour no one above another. It assumes that all people are equal and that inequality can be eradicated simply by treating all people in the same way. Formal equality is therefore blind to structural inequality. Substantive equality in contrast to formal equality holds the value that equality is not simply a matter of likeness, that those who are different should be treated differently. The very essence of equality is to make distinction between groups and individual in order to accommodate their different needs and interests. It considers discrimination against groups which have been historically advantaged to be qualitatively aimed at remedying that disadvantage. The Constitution Act 108 of 1996 confers the right to equal protection and benefit of the law and the right to non discrimination. Prohibition of unfair discrimination in itself is insufficient to achieve true equality in a historically oppressed society. Hard affirmative action measures are required, the Constitution further explicitly endorses such restitutionary measures. Affirmative action is a systematic, planned process whereby the effects of colonialism and racial discrimination are being reversed in all areas if life. It is designed to achieve equal employment opportunities. In order to achieve this goal the barriers of the workplace which restrict employment and progressive opportunities have to be systematically eliminated through proactive programmes. Affirmative action is a delicate instrument of social engineering which must be used with caution. The Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 gives effect to the constitutional provisions and to regulate affirmative action measures in employment. The Employment Equity Act spells out the beneficiaries, who should do the protection, and advancement and what may happen to employers if they fail to comply in the view of the Director-General of the Labour. However the explicit constitutional and legislative endorsement of affirmative action comes with its controversy and legal challenges and it has been left to the courts to resolve tension on the one hand and to ensure equal treatment on the other. , Abstract
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Nconco, Mpumelelo
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Equality before the law -- South Africa , Discrimination in employment -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Affirmative action programs -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:10196 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1617 , Equality before the law -- South Africa , Discrimination in employment -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Affirmative action programs -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Description: During the apartheid era in South Africa there was an unequivocal commitment to white supremacy, segregation and inequality. Discrimination but not on the basis of race was entrenched by the pre-democratic government. The 1980‟s saw the first steps towards reversing such practices through various measures, in the form of formal equality. Formal equality holds that the state must be act neutrally in relation to its employees and must favour no one above another. It assumes that all people are equal and that inequality can be eradicated simply by treating all people in the same way. Formal equality is therefore blind to structural inequality. Substantive equality in contrast to formal equality holds the value that equality is not simply a matter of likeness, that those who are different should be treated differently. The very essence of equality is to make distinction between groups and individual in order to accommodate their different needs and interests. It considers discrimination against groups which have been historically advantaged to be qualitatively aimed at remedying that disadvantage. The Constitution Act 108 of 1996 confers the right to equal protection and benefit of the law and the right to non discrimination. Prohibition of unfair discrimination in itself is insufficient to achieve true equality in a historically oppressed society. Hard affirmative action measures are required, the Constitution further explicitly endorses such restitutionary measures. Affirmative action is a systematic, planned process whereby the effects of colonialism and racial discrimination are being reversed in all areas if life. It is designed to achieve equal employment opportunities. In order to achieve this goal the barriers of the workplace which restrict employment and progressive opportunities have to be systematically eliminated through proactive programmes. Affirmative action is a delicate instrument of social engineering which must be used with caution. The Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 gives effect to the constitutional provisions and to regulate affirmative action measures in employment. The Employment Equity Act spells out the beneficiaries, who should do the protection, and advancement and what may happen to employers if they fail to comply in the view of the Director-General of the Labour. However the explicit constitutional and legislative endorsement of affirmative action comes with its controversy and legal challenges and it has been left to the courts to resolve tension on the one hand and to ensure equal treatment on the other. , Abstract
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
The ambivalent engagement with Christianity in the writing of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Africans in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Nxasana, Thulani Litha
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Authors, African -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Authors, South African -- 19th century -- Criticism and interpretation Authors, South African -- 20th century -- Criticism and interpretation Soga, Tiyo, 1829-1871 -- Criticism and interpretation Mqhayi, S. E. K. -- Criticism and interpretation Mgqwetho, Nontsizi -- Criticism and interpretation South African literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism South African literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism Christianity and literature Ambivalence in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2195 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002237
- Description: Until recently much of the literature recording the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the Eastern Cape focused purely on frontier conflict and missionary activity, ignoring the evolving culture of the colonized people. But as Somande Fikeni declares, “[i]t is important when celebrating the country’s heritage to look beyond battle sites, monuments and wars and to pay attention to South Africa’s intellectuals and knowledge producers” (quoted in Hollands 4). This is indeed the central purpose of my research. This thesis seeks to examine the influence of Christianity on early South African writing by Africans and the ambivalence with which Christianity is often treated in their work. In South Africa, as elsewhere in Africa, Christianity played a central role in the development of African literature through the influence of mission schools and printing presses. Thus from the outset the development of written literature was inseparable from the spread of Christianity. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century writing by Africans reflects this: Christian idioms, biblical stories and images colour their work and yet are not employed unthinkingly. Each of the writers whom I will explore has a complex and at times ambivalent relationship with Christianity, and they use religious discourse for a variety of ends, some of them clearly at odds with their origins in the “civilizing mission” of Europe. According to Yunus Momoniat, “Their works . . . are the beginnings of an engagement not only with the world of words on a page, but also with the politics of literacy itself” (1). The subject of this research is three Xhosa writers from the Eastern Cape: the Reverend Tiyo Soga (1829-1871), the renowned novelist and “National Poet” S. E. K. Mqhayi (1875-1945), and the little-known poet Nontsizi Mgqwetho (Dates uknown, writings 1920-1929), who is described by Mbeki as “the most prolific woman Xhosa poet of the twentieth century” (6). The reason for focusing on the Eastern Cape is because the Xhosa “were the first Bantu people to be exposed to Christian proselytising and to receive a literate education” (Gerard 24). As a result much of the early literature in isiXhosa consisted of translations of the Bible and other Christian tracts, and such “improving” texts as Pilgrim’s Progress. In other words, it is in this work that the first roots of the influence of Christianity in southern Africa can be traced.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Nxasana, Thulani Litha
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Authors, African -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Authors, South African -- 19th century -- Criticism and interpretation Authors, South African -- 20th century -- Criticism and interpretation Soga, Tiyo, 1829-1871 -- Criticism and interpretation Mqhayi, S. E. K. -- Criticism and interpretation Mgqwetho, Nontsizi -- Criticism and interpretation South African literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism South African literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism Christianity and literature Ambivalence in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2195 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002237
- Description: Until recently much of the literature recording the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the Eastern Cape focused purely on frontier conflict and missionary activity, ignoring the evolving culture of the colonized people. But as Somande Fikeni declares, “[i]t is important when celebrating the country’s heritage to look beyond battle sites, monuments and wars and to pay attention to South Africa’s intellectuals and knowledge producers” (quoted in Hollands 4). This is indeed the central purpose of my research. This thesis seeks to examine the influence of Christianity on early South African writing by Africans and the ambivalence with which Christianity is often treated in their work. In South Africa, as elsewhere in Africa, Christianity played a central role in the development of African literature through the influence of mission schools and printing presses. Thus from the outset the development of written literature was inseparable from the spread of Christianity. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century writing by Africans reflects this: Christian idioms, biblical stories and images colour their work and yet are not employed unthinkingly. Each of the writers whom I will explore has a complex and at times ambivalent relationship with Christianity, and they use religious discourse for a variety of ends, some of them clearly at odds with their origins in the “civilizing mission” of Europe. According to Yunus Momoniat, “Their works . . . are the beginnings of an engagement not only with the world of words on a page, but also with the politics of literacy itself” (1). The subject of this research is three Xhosa writers from the Eastern Cape: the Reverend Tiyo Soga (1829-1871), the renowned novelist and “National Poet” S. E. K. Mqhayi (1875-1945), and the little-known poet Nontsizi Mgqwetho (Dates uknown, writings 1920-1929), who is described by Mbeki as “the most prolific woman Xhosa poet of the twentieth century” (6). The reason for focusing on the Eastern Cape is because the Xhosa “were the first Bantu people to be exposed to Christian proselytising and to receive a literate education” (Gerard 24). As a result much of the early literature in isiXhosa consisted of translations of the Bible and other Christian tracts, and such “improving” texts as Pilgrim’s Progress. In other words, it is in this work that the first roots of the influence of Christianity in southern Africa can be traced.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
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