As SAWEI 2027 opens for participation, Kally Mabe (pictured above), Director of the SA LGBT+ Management Forum, asks a deceptively simple question: how inclusive is your workplace when you look beyond the policies, Pride campaigns and corporate messaging? And, as Mabe argues, helping to uncover the answer – and drive meaningful change – may start with just one employee asking the right question.
A workplace can look inclusive from the outside and still be difficult to navigate from the inside. The policy may say the right thing. The Pride campaign may be visible. An employee network may be active.
Yet the real test comes in ordinary moments: when a new hire completes an HR form, when a partner is added to a benefit, when an employee calls an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), when a manager handles a disclosure, or when a trans customer encounters a system that was never designed with them in mind.
That distinction sits at the centre of the South African Workplace Equality Index (SAWEI) as the 2027 cycle opens. SAWEI is the independently assessed benchmark for LGBT+ workplace inclusion in South Africa, administered by the SA LGBT+ Management Forum. The 2027 cycle is the first structured improvement checkpoint in the 2025–2030 accreditation period, building on the baseline established in 2026.
“SAWEI exists because the distance between constitutional promise and lived experience remains measurable.”
The Index is not designed to reward organisations simply for saying they care. It asks them to show where systems, evidence and accountability actually sit, and where they do not.
What the 2026 baseline showed
The 2026 cycle raised the level of scrutiny. The framework expanded to 110 questions and required evidence, with validated submissions independently assessed. The report recorded seven validated submissions and four incomplete submissions, describing the latter as a readiness signal rather than a moral judgement.
The central finding was clear: “The primary gap is located between the design intent of inclusion systems and their operational execution in day-to-day employee experience.”
The issue, therefore, is no longer simply whether an organisation has an LGBT+ policy, ERG or Pride campaign. The deeper question is whether those structures are consistently activated by managers, HR teams, recruiters, wellness providers, benefits administrators, customer-facing staff and leadership.
The report found that employee benefits did not consistently recognise all family structures, EAP providers were not consistently confirmed as LGBT+-affirming, mandatory LGBT+ literacy was absent in the majority of participants, and leadership accountability was not consistently embedded in performance systems.
It also highlighted that transgender, non-binary, intersex, gender-nonconforming, Black, disabled, younger, older and economically vulnerable LGBT+ people may encounter different barriers. The 2026 framework therefore asks whether workplace systems can serve the full range of people who may need them.
Why the 2027 portal matters
The move from spreadsheet submissions to a dedicated online portal reflects an important lesson: no single employee in a complex organisation can realistically hold every answer SAWEI requires.
The 2027 process is designed as a cross-functional employer exercise. Organisations appoint a Company Admin to coordinate the entry, while additional team members can contribute evidence. HR may hold workforce policies, while Legal, Technology, Procurement, Customer Experience or other departments hold different pieces of the evidence.
The submission lead is therefore a coordinator of organisational evidence, not someone expected to personally know every answer.
This matters because LGBT+ employee networks should not be expected to carry responsibility for everything LGBT+. Networks can provide insight, challenge and lived experience, but organisational ownership must sit with the employer.
You can help start the conversation
You do not need to be out at work to raise SAWEI. You do not need to disclose your sexual orientation or gender identity. You can be an ally, a parent, a manager, an executive sponsor or a young person preparing to enter the labour market.
The 2026 report notes that workplace inclusion outcomes are shaped before formal employment begins. Graduate programmes, internships, bursaries and learnerships may be the first institutional environments where young LGBT+ people consider whether their identity will be respected and whether support will be available.
So, what can you do if your employer has never participated?
Start with a question, not an accusation:
“Is our organisation participating in SAWEI 2027?”
Take the question to your LGBT+ employee network, HR, Employment Equity, Transformation, People and Culture, Legal, Compliance, Wellness or a senior ally.
You do not need to volunteer to complete the assessment yourself. Your role may simply be to put the opportunity in front of the people who can act on it.
And employers do not need to demonstrate perfection before entering. SAWEI is a developmental process designed to establish a baseline, recognise evidence and support continuous improvement.
What would make 2027 stronger?
A stronger cycle would mean more organisations participating, but also better evidence and broader representation across sectors, including public-sector and mid-market employers.
The 2026 roadmap identifies five immediate priorities: Civil Union Act benefits alignment; EAP and wellness-provider competency assurance; mandatory role-based LGBT+ literacy; employee-network governance and resourcing; and leadership accountability through inclusion KPIs.
“The 2026 cycle is a baseline, the work continues…”
That is the right way to understand SAWEI 2027. The purpose is not another moment of recognition before everyone moves on. It is to test whether organisations are learning, correcting, embedding and improving.
And sometimes that process begins with something very simple: an employee asking a question.
Is your organisation participating in SAWEI 2027?
How to participate
SAWEI 2027 registration is open. Organisations can register their interest, identify a primary contact and access participation guidance through the SA LGBT+ Management Forum. The Forum can also support organisations that need an onboarding conversation before they begin.
SAWEI enquiries: members@lgbtforum.org
Read the SAWEI 2026 National Report: Available through the Forum’s public resource library.
Kally Mabe is Director of the SA LGBT+ Management Forum, which publishes the South African Workplace Equality Index (SAWEI). MambaOnline is a media partner for SAWEI.
