South Africa’s Black Management Forum has expressed its satisfaction with the Constitutional Court ruling that excluding whites from promotion is enshrined in the affirmative-action clauses of the country’s constitution. This came after an appeal by the Police Service against an earlier Appeal Court ruling that captain Renate Barnard should have been given promotion to superintendent, regardless of her race.
In response, the Black Management Forum has said in a statement that it “welcomes the Constitutional Court ruling in defence of Affirmative Action”.
The BMF “applauds the well thought and articulated ruling by the judges. This is essentially upholding the very law which is enshrined in our constitution. The BMF would like to remind all the institutions in our land that we will not find peace until workplaces reflect the national demographics of our country. Employment Equity Act is one of the transformation instruments which is meant to redress the imbalances of the past discriminatory era of apartheid which denied black people opportunities. We also note and condemn the general reluctance for transformation and unwillingness to appoint black people in senior and top management as reported by the Employment Equity Commission.”
The Black Management Forum accuses businesses of “not respecting the rule of law” by appointing white people to positions and it “will not rest until all the workplace in South Africa reflects our demographics”. As whites only constitute 9% of the population, that would mean that all institutions would have to impose racial quotas and fill positions with blacks, even where they are not qualified.
