SAPS wins employee promotions case against Solidarity
PRETORIA - The South African Police Service (SAPS) management welcomes the decision of the Labour Court in favour of the SAPS, dismissing Solidarity's bid to stop certain promotions. It has been more than two years since the court ruled that promotions of officers to the ranks of lieutenant and major be stopped pending the outcome of this case.
"It has been a painful process for our people because Solidarity literally removed food off their tables by abusing our country's Constitution to deny them promotions. This is very upsetting because we are doing our best as management to encourage our members to work harder in order to improve the safety of our communities. We all know that police officials, given the risks that they face on a daily basis, earn a pittance. Any opportunity to improve their lot should therefore be welcomed," said the National Commissioner, General Riah Phiyega.
General Phiyega said SAPS Management has the best interests of all its members, regardless of race, at heart and will always defend their rights. "It is common knowledge that under the apartheid government only white police officials were afforded the opportunity to advance significantly in rank. Under the democratic dispensation, there is a clear process which has been set out to ensure that, whilst all racial groups continue to benefit, we should prioritise those who were previously systematically chained to the bottom of the ladder, unable to progress up the ranks."
In light of the manner in which Solidarity conducted themselves in Court, it will not be unreasonable to anticipate that they will appeal the judgement just to spite our members. However, because of the importance of this issue to our members, the SAPS is prepared to fight it right up to the highest Court in the land. SAPS members who qualified in terms of the Phase 2 promotion process of the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council (SSSBC) Agreement 2 of 2011 were conditionally promoted to the ranks of lieutenant and major with effect from 1 March 2013.
However, an interdict was granted by the Labour Court, Johannesburg, on 28 February 2013, which restrained the SAPS from promoting any member to the ranks of lieutenant, captain or major in terms of SSSBC Agreement 2 of 2011 until the Court had handed down judgment in two other court cases brought by Solidarity.
The two cases brought by Solidarity were heard in the Labour Court on 11 June 2014 and 27 to 29 January 2015 respectively. In one case, judgment has been reserved and a decision is still awaited, whilst judgment was delivered in the other case on 2 April 2015. In this judgment, the case was dismissed in favour of the SAPS. Solidarity has 15 working days in which to lodge an appeal against the judgment, which date lapses on 28 April 2015.
Statement issued by Lieutenant General Solomon Makgale, SAPS, April 13 2015
