Solidarity says withdrawal of racial equity regulations a step in the right direction

Trade union Solidarity on Tuesday welcomed the Department of Labour's reported undertaking to scrap racial regulations in the draft Employment Equity Act (EEA) regulations and said this was a step in the right direction.  The regulations, published in February this year, stipulated that employers employing more than 150 employees may only use the national race demography when appointing persons to the top three management levels.  Solidarity said implementation of those provisions would have meant that coloured persons in particular, but also many white, Indian and black persons inevitably would have had to relocate in order to find jobs.  According to Dirk Groenewald, Head of Solidarity's Centre for Fair Labour Practice, it seemed as if the provisions in the regulations dealing with the mirroring of the national demography would now be withdrawn.  “At the moment, we are trying to obtain official confirmation of the withdrawal as well as of the full new wording the codes are to assume.  We are still keeping options open for legal action after having undertaken earlier this year to fight the provisions in question right up to the highest courts.”  Groenewald commented: ‘It seems as if the huge public pressure brought to bear by Solidarity and others against the codes made the department rethink the matter.”

• Read Solidarity press statement at Politicsweb