Draft Reviewed Code of Good Practice on EE Plans (24 July 2026) — what changes and how to comment
On 24 July 2026, the Minister of Employment and Labour, Ms Nomakhosazana Meth, published Government Notice No. 7719 (Government Gazette No. 55046) — the Draft Reviewed Code of Good Practice on the Preparation, Implementation and Monitoring of the Employment Equity Plan, issued under Section 55(1) of the Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998 (as amended), on the advice of the Commission for Employment Equity.
The draft Code is open for public comment for 60 days from publication — comments must be submitted before 27 September 2026. This is the document that will govern how every designated employer builds, runs and monitors its EE Plan, so it is worth reading before it is finalised.
Who it applies to
The Code applies to all designated employers — employers with 50 or more employees, plus employers with 1 to 49 employees that are an organ of state or are bound by a collective agreement under sections 23 or 31 of the LRA. Each of them must prepare, implement and monitor an EE Plan in consultation with a representative trade union, employees, or employee representatives.
What the draft Code requires
1. A three-phase process. The Code formalises the EE Plan lifecycle into a preparation phase, an implementation phase and a monitoring phase — no longer just "write a plan and file it".
2. Senior accountability. As soon as an employer becomes designated, it must initiate the process and assign one or more senior managers to steer it. Monitoring meetings must keep records of progress reports and, where applicable, involve the CEO / Accounting Officer and the Board.
3. A properly capacitated EE forum. Members of the EE forum must be trained on their roles and responsibilities, and all employees must be informed about the EEA, its Regulations and Codes, unfair discrimination, affirmative action and the process the employer will follow.
4. Real consultation, not a signature drive. Consultation must include a reasonable opportunity to meet on the analysis, the plan and the reports; feedback to constituencies; and the request, receipt and consideration of relevant information — subject to the usual limits on legally privileged, confidential or personal information.
5. The plan must be built on the analysis. The EE Plan must meet section 20 requirements, must use the EEA13 template, and must be informed by the EEA12 analysis of policies, practices and procedures, the workforce profile and the work environment (including diversity management and reasonable accommodation).
6. Duration and dates. An EE Plan must be no shorter than one year and no longer than five years, with specific start and end dates (day, month, year), taking into account workforce size, geographic spread, the time needed for affirmative action measures, and the business/strategic plan.
7. Targets at every level. Designated employers must set numerical goals and annual EE targets at the semi-skilled and unskilled levels using the applicable EAP (section 20(2)). An employer that has already exceeded the 5-year sector numerical targets must keep setting annual targets towards the EAP, and must avoid perpetuating over-representation of any group at a level where it already exceeds the EAP.
8. Consensus and disputes. The employer must attempt to reach consensus on annual objectives and corrective measures. Where consensus fails, the reasons must be recorded and resolution attempted through the dispute mechanism written into the plan.
9. Resources and succession of plans. Human, financial and material resources must be allocated, monitoring indicators must be agreed before implementation begins, and preparation of the next plan must start at least six months before the current plan expires. A plan may only be revised mid-term because of major changes or restructuring.
10. Reporting. Annual reporting to the Director-General under section 21 continues via the EEA2 and EEA4 forms — by hand delivery or through the Department's online reporting system. Public companies must include their workforce profile in their financial report using the EEA10 format, and organs of state must table their report in Parliament in the same format.
What this means practically
If your EE Plan is a template that was signed once and filed, the reviewed Code will expose it. The three things we'd fix first:
- Evidence of consultation — dated agendas, minutes, information requests and feedback records, not just a member list.
- Targets at semi-skilled and unskilled levels benchmarked to the correct EAP, with over-representation checks per occupational level.
- A monitoring calendar with pre-agreed indicators, board/CEO visibility, and a diarised start date six months before your current plan expires.
We offer Employment Equity training for EE Committees, managers and HR teams covering exactly this — barrier analysis, EEA12/EEA13, sector targets and compliance certificate readiness.
How to comment before 27 September 2026
Comments must be in writing and are submitted using the comment table at the back of the gazette (name of individual/organisation, comment number, the paragraph number in the Code, and your proposed amendment). Email them to:
- Christina.Lehlokoa@labour.gov.za
- Tsholofelo.Ndlovu@labour.gov.za
The full draft Code is embedded below — read it, or download it to circulate to your EE forum.
Our assessment for clients
The draft Code raises the evidentiary bar rather than the paperwork bar: consultation, senior accountability, pre-agreed monitoring indicators and level-by-level EAP benchmarking all have to be demonstrable. Employers with a compliant-looking plan but thin records are the ones most exposed once this Code is finalised. If a paragraph would be impractical in your workplace, say so — comments close 27 September 2026 and this is the last easy opportunity to shape it.