| Summary: | During the apartheid era black people were systematically excluded from all positions of influence in the state and civil society. The majority of senior posts in government were held by whites, in particular, white males. Women and people with disabilities were similarly disadvantaged and marginalised, particularly those from black communities. With the new post-apartheid dispensation, the democratic government took a conscious decision to change that situation. It is against this background that that the Employment Equity Act (EEA) was introduced in 1998. The two main aims of the Act are: to achieve employment equity by promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination; and to implement the affirmative action measures, to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups in order to ensure their equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels in the workforce. The implement of EEA in the Eastern Cape Department of Transport (ECDOT) has so far not been very successful as the Department still has not managed to meet the set targets. According to their Employment Equity Plan (EEP), the senior management level (SMS) is still dominated by males. Although the situation is slightly better at the middle management level, it is still far from being ideal. The lower ranks are dominated by females. With regard to people with disabilities (PWDs) the Department is still far from meeting their 2% target. The purpose of this research was to determine if the ECDOT has been able to implement the dictates of the EEA. It aims to look at ways in which the EEA can best be implemented in order to ensure that the desired results are achieved. This study was prompted by the fact that the ECDOT has not managed to reach the EEA targets in hiring people with disabilities (PDWs) and elevating women to senior positions. The study explored the views of the employees of the Department regarding the implementation of EE. It was conducted using the quantitative approach. 90 employees were asked to respond to a structured questionnaire designed by the researcher. The findings of the study indicate that although in some areas the Department has been able to successfully implement EE, issues of racial equity, diversity, infrastructure conducive for people with disabilities, recruitment practices, and management commitment still need to be improved on. The study recommends, amongst others, that managers should provide leadership in the implementation process, more recruitment sources should be explored, suitable infrastructure must be provided, diversity issues must be addressed through workshops and training sessions, employee participation needs to be ensured, and that feedback must always be provided to EE beneficiaries in order to keep make sure they remain within the organisation and continue to improve.
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