POLITICS

Few will benefit from Tony Ehrenreich's race purge plan - Solidarity

Union says COSATU WCape PS trying to divert attention from effect of ANC's EEA regulations on coloured population of province

Tony Ehrenreich has run out of arguments

The statement by Tony Ehrenreich, Cosatu's Western Cape secretary and ANC councillor in the Cape Town City Council, that everyone will benefit if half of the white senior managers in the Western Cape Provincial Government are dismissed, is devoid of any truth. According to the Solidarity trade union, there are only a few hundred senior management positions in the Western Cape Provincial Government whilst there are more than 600 000 unemployed people in the province (see Cape Argus report).

Solidarity spokesperson Piet le Roux said by playing the race card, Ehrenreich has now shown that he has run out of arguments. ‘This is merely an attempt at distracting from the government's proposed affirmative action regulations that will adversely affect especially coloured people in the Western Cape.

Ehrenreich's plan to dismiss a few hundred white government officials only sows racial strife and would not solve the plight of the unemployed coloured and black people in the Western Cape. Cosatu's member organisation Popcru even opposed Solidarity's application on behalf of coloured employees of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS).'

Le Roux said there is only an estimated 400 top and senior management positions in the Western Cape Provincial Government. If Ehrenreich is correct that 57% of these positions are held by white people, it would mean that his plan to dismiss 50% of the senior white officials would only make about 114 positions available for people from other race groups.

Statement issued by Piet le Roux, Spokesperson: Solidarity, April 17 2014

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