If businessman Andile Ngcaba wins his racism claim against Dimension Data that would set a precedent for equal pay for equal work across racial lines in corporate SA.
This is a case to watch: if someone in Ngcaba's position as an executive indeed suffered the such discrimination one cannot help but wonder how widespread salary disparities are in SA businesses based on race 26 years into democracy.
The former DIdata executive has taken his erstwhile employers to court to claim R430m for alleged discrimination and unfair pay. In court papers Ngcaba, who worked as the executive chairperson of Dimension Data Middle East and Africa from 2004 to 2017, said he discovered in April 2016 that the company had breached the equal treatment agreement that CEO Brett Dawson had verbally promised because it excluded him from a long-term incentive scheme that other executive directors, mainly white, enjoyed.
He said when he brought this up with incumbent executive chair Jeremy Ord, he allegedly said that Ngcaba had other options as he was in line to make “extraordinary amounts of money out of his BEE shares”. “Such utterances and articulations were received ... as constituting racially discriminatory slurs and insults specially and unfairly reserved for black business persons such as [my]self,” Ngcaba said in the court papers.
Also in court papers, the company said Ngcaba could not benefit from the same incentive scheme as other executives as he already enjoyed benefits in another equity empowerment deal with the company.
Ngcaba was fortunate to learn this information, probably because of the lofty position he held as issues of remuneration are deemed confidential between employer and employee. Even if as an employee you suspect such unfair discrimination it would be difficult . The case will go a long way in solving these types of discrimination in the workplace.
When apartheid was dismantled blacks gained political power, but it seems the status quo remained in the corporate world. Under the regime companies were citing laws of the country but now they have no justification for exploiting blacks. Cases like the ongoing Nkosana Makate vs Vodacom issue show lack of value and appreciation for black talent by business. A court of law had to rule that Makate be compensated for his idea.
Ours is a world where blacks still have to work twice as hard as their white colleagues to be recognised by employers in a predominantly white corporate world. With cases like this there's hope for an end to this unfair practice and for equal pay regardless of skin colour.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.