Workforce profile of top management positions in South Africa 2015/16

The pie chart illustrates the overall ethnic and racial composition of top management positions in South Africa during 2015/16, while the bar chart provides a breakdown of these demographics by public and private sectors. Overall, it is evident that White individuals held the vast majority of top management roles, particularly in the private sector, while the public sector showed a starkly different profile with a high concentration of African employees.

As shown in the pie chart, White people accounted for 68.9% of all top management positions, followed by African (14.3%), Indian (8.6%), Coloured (4.7%), and Foreign national (3.5%) groups. In the private sector, this trend was even more pronounced, with White employees making up 72.4% of the workforce, compared to just 10.8% for African, 8.7% for Indian, 4.5% for Coloured, and 3.6% for Foreign nationals.

Conversely, the public sector was dominated by African employees at 73.2%. White staff represented 12.6% of public sector management, while Coloured, Indian, and Foreign national groups comprised 7.4%, 6.5%, and 0.4% respectively. Notably, the representation of African staff in the public sector was significantly higher than in the private sector, contrasting sharply with the distribution of White employees.