Solidarity requests review of Tshwane Metro's Employment Equity plan
Trade union Solidarity today, in a letter to the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality and the acting Director-General of the Department of Labour, requested that the municipality's current employment equity (EE) plan be reviewed.
This comes after Solidarity established that the sole objective of the metro's EE plan is to achieve a workforce that directly reflects the national economically active population and that the municipality refrains from appointing candidates who are "overrepresented" within certain employment categories. Solidarity maintains that the latter practice is in conflict with employment equity legislation.
According to Adv. Dirk Groenewald, Head of Solidarity's Centre for Fair Labour Practice, Solidarity is currently finalising legal documents regarding its legal representation of one of its members, who has been denied appointment by the City of Tshwane solely based on his race.
"It has been determined that our member, Mr Jan Pretorius, has been denied appointment purely based on the fact that he forms part of the so-called overrepresented group. We are certain that this amounts to unfair discrimination. Furthermore, we have determined that the metro has already established "equitable" and "broad" representivity and therefore we request that all affirmative action measures used by the municipality be ceased," said Groenewald.
Pretorius applied for the position of foreman in the metro's Water and Sanitation Department, where has been working since 1999. Pretorius was notified in October last year that white people were not supposed to apply for the position, but that a white man has been identified as the best candidate for the job. The position is, however, reserved for a black, female candidate.
According to Groenewald, the numerical targets and objectives of the Tshwane Metro's EE plan conform to neither the letter, nor the spirit of the Employment Equity Act (EEA). "Solidarity's request for the plan to be reviewed mainly stems from the fact that the metro's plan, by only taking the national economically active population as well as race and gender into consideration, creates a quota and an absolute barrier to the appointment and/or promotion of people from the overrepresented groups. Furthermore, the plan disregards the racial demographic profile of the region in which the City of Tshwane is located," Groenewald explained.
Solidarity accordingly submitted that the acting Director-General of the Department of Labour, Sam Morotoba, should exercise his powers in terms of sections 43 and 44 of the EEA and recommend, in writing, to the metro that the numerical goals be reviewed so as to take account of, among other things, the pool of suitably qualified people from the designated groups and the racial demographic profile of the region in which the metro operates.
Solidarity moreover requested to be informed of the outcome of the review once it has been completed. "Should the Tshwane Metro consider it necessary, Solidarity will make more detailed representations to the municipality regarding the review of the plan," Groenewald said. "We simply cannot disregard the matter, as our member is being unfairly discriminated against and the EE plan prevents the municipality from providing efficient services to the people of the City of Tshwane."
Statement issued by Adv. Dirk Groenewald, Head: Centre for Fair Labour Practice, Solidarity, June 5 2014
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