Interestingly, if you read the actual article clearly, Comair are mainly being fines for what seems like administrative
ups.
According to the application, Comair has been found to be in breach of the following provisions of the Employment Equity Act:
Section 20 of Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, by failing to prepare and implement an Employment Equity Plan which would achieve reasonable progress towards employment equity in the respondent's workplace between the periods 2000 to September 2007;
Section 21 (2) (3) (4) and (5) by submitting reports to the first applicant which were not based on any existing Employment Equity Plan of the respondent and/or submitting falsified reports;
Section 21 (3) of Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 by failing to submit a report to the Director General on the first working day of October 2007;
Section 24 of Employment Equity Act, in that Comair failed to assign one or more senior managers to take responsibility for monitoring and implementing an EE Plan from 2000 to 26 March 2007;
Section 26 of EE Act 55 of 1998 by failing to keep records in respect of its workforce, its EE Plan and other records relevant for purposes of compliance with the EE Act 55 of 1998.
When they were originally included on a list of 6 large companies that were 'named and shamed' by the minister, they were the only ones who publicly spoke out against him, essentially telling him he did not know what he was talking about. At that point, the issue of EE pilots was not raised. The minister criticised them for not having any executive managers that were EE appointments. Perhaps there was some arrogance involved there, maybe not. But it wouldn't be a first from a Novick.
EE is a reality, whether we like it or not. It is not like this issue crept up on Comair overnight. They know what is required of them and should have at least had a plan in place. As should every other airline in SA right now. Don't be surprised to see the Department of Labour put some focus on the aviation industry as a whole now.