Solidarity heads to ConCourt over Tourism Relief Fund
The organisation wants the apex court to rule on whether the granting of relief on the basis of race is constitutional.
Dirk Hermann, CEO of Solidarity trade union, is seen during a press briefing held in Centurion where they revealed the Denel Dossier, 19 April 2018, Pretoria. Picture: Jacques Nelles
Solidarity has announced that it would ask the Constitutional Court to decide on an urgent basis whether the granting of relief on the basis of race is constitutional.
This comes after the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled on Thursday that the department of tourism’s decision to use race as criterion for granting relief from the Tourism Relief Fund is not unlawful.
“It is imperative that South Africa gets legal certainty on whether, in a state of disaster, the Constitution allows for discrimination based on race in order to qualify for relief. Solidarity is going to request access to the Constitutional Court. As the crisis is urgent, we believe the matter, too, is urgent,” Dr Dirk Hermann, chief executive of Solidarity said, according to a press release by the organisation.
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“Judge Jody Kollapen ruled that the criteria does not perpetuate an unfair advantage for some candidates over others based on race, but rather has the effect of providing those candidates with a head start.
“Solidarity argued that the pandemic does not discriminate against its victims on the basis of race and that it is therefore immoral of government to offer relief on these grounds,” the organisation said.
“It is not only white business owners who are affected but also all employees in the industry, of which two out of every three are black. Hunger and distress know no colour,” Hermann contended.
“The department of tourism’s defence was that it was legally obliged to apply black economic empowerment, regardless of the consequences the alleged obligation has.”
“It is sad that Solidarity now has to turn to the Constitutional Court because government is set to continue with the discriminatory race criterion it imposed to qualify for emergency relief. This action by government cannot be justified in any way, and therefore Solidarity will not leave it at that,” Hermann concluded.
(Compiled by Carina Koen.)
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