Court
delivers blow to affirmative action - 26 February
A landmark Labour Court judgment was handed down on Friday
ordering the SA Police Service to promote Captain Renate Barnard
after she was denied a career move because of her race.
"The failure to promote Barnard was a decision based on her
race and constituted racial discrimination", the court
found. "It is not apparent that consideration was given to
the applicant's [Barnard's] right to equality and dignity. There
appears to be no consideration of her personal work history and
circumstances". - IOL
website
Promote
white cop, SAPS told - 26 February
In a landmark affirmative action case on Friday the Labour Court
ruled that the South African Police Service should promote
captain Renate Barnard to superintendent. - IOL
website
Labour
court finds that Barnard must be promoted - 26 February
Solidarity general secretary Dirk Hermann said the judgment was
a victory for all South Africans. - Business
Report website
Solidarity
to bring more affirmative action case to court - 26 February
Trade union Solidarity have a total of nine cases against the SA
government, it said following a landmark affirmative action
ruling handed down by the Labour Court on Friday. Deputy general
secretary Dirk Hermann said it would continue fighting these
cases as the government "lost their legal base for a lot of
cases" following Friday's judgment. - Business
Report website
Landmark
ruling on affirmative action in Barnard case - 27 February
The ruling by Acting Judge Paul Pretorius, in a landmark case
involving affirmative action, will either serve to temper the
harshness of these laws or send the lawmakers back to the
drawing board to close the loopholes. The ruling is
groundbreaking as it will allow employers in certain limited
circumstances to think outside the box. That they are no longer
tied to strict numbers in all cases. It will not however detract
from the overall policies of affirmative action and as such
should be welcomed by all sides as a measure designed to restore
balance to the system. - Richmark
Sentinel website
| The
purpose of the Employment Equity Act
55 of 1998 is to "achieve equality in the
work-place" by, among other things, eliminating
unfair discrimination as well as implementing affirmative
action measures.
In the
matter of Solidarity obo Barnard v SAPS [2010] JOL
25074 (LC), where judgment was handed down in the
Johannesburg Labour Court on Friday, 26 February 2010, the
applicant, Mrs R M Barnard sought relief for alleged
unfair discrimination against her, based on her race
group. She contended that she had been denied a
promotion "on two occassions for the sole reason that
she is white".
The
court's decision was influenced by the following
principles :
1. The
provisions of the Employment Equity Act as well as those
of the Employment Equity Plan of the organisation involved
"must be applied in accordance with the principles of
fairness and with due regard to the affected individual's
constitutional right to equality ;
2. "Due
consideration must be given to the particular
circumstances of individuals potentially adversely
affected" ;
3.
"Where a post cannot be filled by an applicant from
an under-represented category because a suitable candidate
from that category cannot be found, promotion to that post
should not ordinarily and in the absence of a clear and
satisfactory explanation be denied to a suitable candidate
from another group".
Source
: OSALL (LexisNexis) |
On
the limits of affirmative action - 1 March
Both the Constitutional Court and the Labour Court have already
made clear that although affirmative action is constitutionally
mandated and sanctioned by the Employment
Equity Act, representativity cannot be the only criteria
used to decide on the appointment or promotion of an individual.
- Pierre de Vos on the Constitutionally
Speaking blog