Renate Barnard – praag.org

Black Management Forum very happy with ConCourt’s anti-white ruling

The Black Management Forum accuses businesses of ‘not respecting the rule of law’ by appointing white people to positions.

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.

SA Police to defend anti-white policy in Constitutional Court

Renate Barnard... too white for promotion — Renate Barnard… too white for promotion

The South African Police Service (SAPS) now wants to refer the Renate Barnard affirmative action case to the Constitutional Court. Yesterday, court papers were served on Solidarity which is representing Barnard. Solidarity will oppose the SAPS’s application for leave to appeal.

‘Solidarity is shocked by the SAPS’s decision to defend its unlawful race practices all the way to the Constitutional Court,’ Dirk Hermann, Solidarity’s Executive Officer said in a statement. According to Hermann, the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein passed an excellent judgment that balances the rights of all. ‘We get the impression that the SAPS believes that affirmative action annuls the constitutional rights to equality and dignity of white employees like Barnard. Should that be the case, then affirmative action would have a higher authority than the Constitution itself. This would imply that South Africa is an affirmative action state and not a constitutional state. We are of the opinion that an appeal to the Constitutional Court is inappropriate. The SAPS should abide by the Supreme Court of Appeal’s judgment.’

Hermann says the greatest injustice brought about by this is the time it is taking to get justice for Barnard. ‘She has been fighting for justice for the past 8 years, and a constitutional court application will simply delay this process even more. She exudes passion to serve the South African public, and surely something is patently wrong if the colour of her skin is the only stumbling block preventing her to live out her calling.’

Hermann added that although Solidarity believes that, for Barnard’s sake, it is inappropriate to refer this matter to the Constitutional Court, it will be advantageous for South Africa to obtain legal certainty about these burning issues in the highest court.

In November, the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein ruled in favour of Solidarity and Barnard. The SAPS was ordered to pay the costs associated with the litigation in the Labour, Labour Appeal Courts as well as in the Supreme Court of Appeal, as well as Barnard’s backdated remuneration.

Barnard’s affirmative action struggle began as far back as 2005. Twice, she had applied for the same position. In both instances she was found to be the best candidate and the interviewing panel recommended her appointment. The position was, however, left vacant. The position was advertised a third time, but was scrapped after she had again applied for it.

Appeal Court: Police ‘clearly discriminated against’ white police officer

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) said on Thursday the SA Police Service had clearly discriminated against Lt-Col Renate Barnard on the basis of race.

The SCA has upheld an appeal against a decision of the Labour Appeal Court (LAC) that overturned a decision of the Labour Court, Sapa reported.

The Labour Court held that Barnard had been unfairly discriminated against when she was not appointed to a higher position.

She was not promoted to position of superintendent within a specialised unit of the SAPS, despite being the best candidate for the post. The court held that Barnard had clearly been discriminated against on the basis of race.

Barnard had twice applied unsuccessfully for promotion to the position.

The position was that of superintendent within the then National Evaluation Services (NES), dealing with complaints by the public and public officials on any matter regarding the police services.

Despite recommendations by an interviewing panel and her divisional commissioner, the national commissioner did not appoint her.

The reason given was that racial representivity at the level of superintendent would be negatively affected.

On Thursday, the SCA said it noted that the appeal turned on its own facts and that it would be presumptuous to assert and foolish to assume that the decision in this case would be an all-embracing guide to deciding future cases.

“If we are to build a cohesive society with cohesive components within the state structure, we have to be situation sensitive,” the SCA said.

The judgment further stated that to redress past imbalances with affirmative action measures, race had to be taken into account, but it should do so fairly and without losing focus that the ultimate objective was to ensure a fully inclusive society.

“One [society] compliant with all facets of our constitutional project,” it stated.