- The commission's annual report found that since 2018, the percentage of black South Africans in senior management positions did not rise beyond 24.7%.
- In the same period the percentage of white South Africans in senior positions stayed above 50%.
- The report also said the number of female occupants in top management positions rose marginally from 23.5% in 2018 to 24.9% in 2020.
The Commission for Employment Equity took a dim view of the state of transformation at South African businesses, particularly when it came to top level management and the transfer of skills from expatriates working in the country to South Africans.
The commission released its annual report for the 2020-21 financial year on Friday. It found that since 2018 the percentage of black South Africans in senior management positions did not go beyond 24.7%, while the percentage of white South Africans in senior positions stayed above 50%.
The report also said the number of female occupants in top management positions rose marginally from 23.5% in 2018 to 24.9% in 2020. In the same period the percentage of senior management occupants who were female rose from 34.5% to 35.7%.
The report also said coloured and Indian senior management stayed at 8% and 11% respectively over the same period. The report noted a declining trend in the representation of the white population group at the senior management occupational level.
"This decline, though encouraging, remains insignificant and maintain a dominance of the white population group at this occupational level.
"Senior management is the level at which incumbents are prepared for promotion opportunities and the trend explains why top management remains predominantly dominated by the white population group," the report said.
The report said the white population group's representation of 64.7% at the top occupation level continued to dominate, although this was slowly declining.
"Female representation has remained below 25% throughout all the reporting periods, with white and Indian female representation remaining much higher than their economic activity population at the top management level," the report said.
The report added that foreign national percentages mirrored those at the top management occupational level and the expected skills transfer by foreign nationals to the South African designated groups was not taking place.