It seems clear that the Department has chosen to ignore the recent judgment of the Labour Court in Solidarity and Others v Department of Correctional Services and Others, requiring employers to take into consideration both national and regional demographics with regard to appointment and promotion of personnel. In terms of the new Regulations, employers will be required to consider only national demographics in respect of the promotion and appointment of certain categories of senior personnel. This could have far-reaching negative implications for coloured South Africans in the Western Cape and for Indian South Africans in KZN.
This is another example of the increasingly rigid imposition of race-based policies in terms of the ANC’s National Democratic Revolution ideology. It is irreconcilable with the foundational value of non-racialism in the Constitution. It will also add a further imposition on SMME’s already struggling under the burden of over-regulation and government inefficiency.
The Foundation’s Centre for Constitutional Rights is studying the Regulations and will be making a detailed submission to the Department of Labour.
Issued by the FW de Klerk Foundation
Photo credit: martin_kalfatovic / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA
