Solidarity to continue court battle over sports quotas 

15 March 2019

Solidarity today confirmed that the court battle to challenge the implementation of sports quotas would continue. This comes after the Johannesburg Labour Court upheld a legal technicality that was argued by the Minister of Sport and sports bodies. It was contended that Solidarity had to involve a member for it to be in a position to contend the matter in court. 

The Minister also argued that the Labour Court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the case. The court rejected this argument put forward by the minister, which means the Labour Court does indeed have the necessary jurisdiction to hear the matter. 

“Solidarity takes note of the ruling and will study its full content. What we can state with unequivocal certainty is that a court battle over sports quotas will be taken further,” Solidarity Deputy Chief Operating Officer Werner Human said. 

“It is of vital importance to note that the court did not deal with the matter of the merit of quotas in sport; it only dealt with legal technicalities. It is in the public interest that the matter of sport quotas per se be heard in court – the minister’s focus is undoubtedly on the legal technicalities,” Human added. 

In the coming week Solidarity will launch another campaign in which members of the public will be invited to share their personal experiences with political interference in sport with us. The campaign, called #TellyourStory, will seek to alert the authorities to the fact that political interference in sport is not without adverse effects. 

Issued by Francois Redelinghuys, Spokesperson, Solidarity, 15 March 2019