Proposed fisherman quotas amount to unfair discrimination – Solidarity
17 August 2015
The trade union Solidarity today said the draft policy concerning the application of the national racial demography to fishermen amounts to unfair discrimination. In terms of the draft policy, which was published in the Government Gazette recently, commercial fisherman licences will in future be awarded on the basis of the national racial demography, therefore 79,6% black, 9% Coloured, 8,9% white and 2,5% Asian (see Rapport report).
According to Solidarity, the draft policy will constitute a practice similar to that of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS)’s absolute application of the national racial demography in its affirmative action plan. The Labour Appeal Court, however, ruled in April this year that the DCS may not apply the national racial demography.
Dirk Groenewald, head of Solidarity’s Centre for Fair Labour Practices, explained that the said draft policy was yet another proof that the state wanted to enforce its ideology of absolute racial representation on society at all costs. “Policies such as this denies the public their right to follow occupations of their own choice. In addition, this policy will have catastrophic effects on the brown fishermen community since they have been following this occupation in a majority for historical reasons,” Groenewald said.
Groenewald believes that the concept policy is nothing less than a quota system, which is prohibited in terms of the Employment Equity Act. This Act further provides that a nuanced approach should be followed when stating numerical objectives. “The courts have already confirmed that the banning of quotas is also applicableoutside the workplace. Solidarity has been fighting a battle against government’s interpretation of the said legislation for years. We will continue fighting this issue in the highest courts and we will also approach the United Nations in this regard in September this year,” Groenewald said.
Statement issued by Dirk Groenewald, Head: Centre for Fair Labour Practices, Solidarity, August 17 2015
