News24.com
Jan de Lange
2009-08-19 09:28
Johannesburg - The way in which affirmative action is applied in the civil service has been dealt a blow in the labour court.In a recent court settlement, four police officers who were denied promotion five years ago were vindicated on all the points of their complaint, with retroactive effect.The South African Police Service (SAPS) hastily and surprisingly offered a settlement, therefore preventing a legal argument from developing regarding critical aspects of affirmative action.The matter of the four officials was the most important test case regarding affirmative action in the civil service to date.The legal proceedings had been instituted by four forensic scientists and on Monday the case was settled by granting all the requests they asked for back in November 2004: immediate promotion, which was formerly refused due to the colour of their skin, as well as full compensation with retroactive effect, as if they had indeed been promoted at that time.Posts left vacantIn this case the SAPS had decided to leave key positions vacant rather than appointing white candidates.The white applicants were fully qualified - with formal training and years of experience - for these highly skilled posts.
Full Story: http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/f99a18ebda444ca285209275bf896a08/19-08-2009-09-28/Blow_for_affirmative_action#
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