Johannesburg - Trade union Solidarity believes its victory against the Correctional Services Department, on its employment equity plan, could see the Mining Charter being altered.
Last week, the Constitutional Court ruled that the department had discriminated unfairly against coloured employees in the Western Cape who were denied employment based on the plan.
The court found that the department should have considered regional demographics when applying its employment equity plan, instead of only relying on national demographics.
During talks on the Mining Charter with the Mineral Resources Department, Solidarity argued that the proposed charter also referred to racial quotas and set the national demographics as a guideline for appointments, which did not adhere to the Employment Equity Act.
“The provision in the draft charter that 2% of a company’s jobs must be filled by black disabled workers, notwithstanding the fact that the EEA lays down no race directive in this regard, is a case in point,” said Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis.
“Moreover, the charter proposes a fixed requirement (26%) in respect of black ownership without any sunset clause. Thus, the draft charter is in contravention of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), a convention South Africa is a signatory to, and which denounces any form of racial discrimination which is permanent in nature.”
Solidarity said it would not accept any affirmative action policy that violated the country's legislation and would head to the courts again if necessary.
LABOUR BUREAU