AfriForum to appeal against ruling that Department of Tourism is allowed to use race as criterion when allocating relief

30 April 2020 

AfriForum has instructed its legal team to approach the Constitutional Court directly with an application to appeal the ruling by the Northern Gauteng High Court in Pretoria that allows the Department of Tourism to use race as criterion when providing COVID-19 relief to tourism enterprises. Judge Jody Kollapen delivered his ruling by e-mail today. AfriForum and Solidarity were the applicants in the case.

According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, the organisation decided it would approach the Constitutional Court, because small tourism businesses owned by members of minority communities also find themselves in dire need of assistance, just as all other small tourism enterprises do. “If this case is delayed, many small enterprises in white ownership will close their doors and the government will be, figuratively speaking, complicit in economic murder on minorities,” says Kriel.

Kriel also said it is important for minority communities to get clarity from the Constitutional Court on whether the current constitutional order is undermining the rights of minorities to such an extent that discrimination against white people are allowed even in times of crisis. 

If that is the case, Kriel says minority communities will have to realise that they are solely dependent on their own communities and that steps will have to be taken to ensure members of minority communities support each other to ensure their survival. “AfriForum has foreseen that government would turn its back on minority communities and has already established www.afriforumnetwerk.co.za where small enterprises can register to be located and supported by their local communities,” says Kriel.

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Issued by Carina Bester, Media Relations Officer, AfriForum, 30 April 2020