Affirmative action: Solidarity 8, government 0
The way in which affirmative action is implemented in the South African Police Service (SAPS) suffered another blow yesterday. Trade union Solidarity has now already won eight consecutive affirmative action cases. The trade union brings a total of 12 affirmative action cases against the government.
In terms of a ruling by the Labour Court in Johannesburg, two white police members, Emil and Martha Oosthuizen, must be appointed retrospectively in accordance with a settlement reached between Solidarity and the SAPS. This follows after they applied for reappointment, but their applications were denied since their reappointment would not promote representation in the SAPS.
The trade union scored a victory in August 2009 on behalf of three members of the forensic unit of the SAPS. This was followed by a victory on behalf of Renate Barnard against the SAPS in 2010, the victory on behalf of Herman Denysschen from the Department of Correctional Services in November 2010 and the victory on behalf of Johannes Jacobus Deetlefs in February this year.
In all these cases, members were denied promotions or reappointment in the SAPS and the public service based on the implementation of affirmative action. Solidarity argued in each case that the application of affirmative action was unreasonable and that leaving the positions vacant rather than appointing suitable white candidates had a negative impact on service delivery.
"Solidarity is turning the unreasonable way in which affirmative action is implemented in the SAPS and the public service on its head case by case. The test of all these cases is to determine whether the ideology of absolute representivity should be implemented at the expense of service delivery. Not in one case could this ideology withstand the trial by court," Dr. Dirk Herman, Deputy General Secretary of Solidarity, said.
Both Oosthuizens had worked as fingerprint experts at the SAPS since 1990 until their resignation in 2006. Both applied for reappointment in 2008, but were informed that their reappointment had not been approved as it would not promote representivity in the SAPS, even though both of them had attached recommendation letters from senior officials in the SAPS to their applications. In July 2009 they applied for approximately 20 positions separately. Shortly after this, in January 2010, the SAPS launched an extensive campaign to lure back experts. They were finally reappointed in August 2010 following this campaign.
In terms of the court order the SAPS's records must be adjusted to effect their reappointment retrospectively. The records will consequently indicate that both have been reappointed since March 2009.
Meanwhile, Solidarity is preparing for the appeal of Renate Barnard in the Labour Appeal Court on 4 May. "In our opinion, this case is essential since a higher court will now determine whether affirmative action in South Africa is reasonable or not," Hermann explained. Solidarity believes that the appeal will support the decision of the Labour Court.
Statement issued by Dirk Hermann, Deputy General Secretary: Solidarity, March 23 2011
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