Pretoria - Trade union Solidarity has said it is going to challenge Dis-Chem in court after the pharmaceutical giant missed the October 21 deadline to indicate whether it had withdrawn its controversial ban on employing and promoting white people.
Solidarity undertook to serve its first legal papers on Dis-Chem this week.
The union wrote to Dis-Chem earlier this month, placing it on terms to indicate whether the controversial racial policy had been withdrawn. If not the case, Solidarity reserved the right to litigate.
Dis-Chem ignored this deadline, said Dr Dirk Hermann, Solidarity’s chief executive.
“The entire South Africa wants to know whether Dis-Chem has only withdrawn the controversial memorandum or the policy as well. Instead of providing certainty, Dis-Chem refuses to disclose information.”
He said Dis-Chem’s statements were vague and did nothing to create certainty.
“The question is simply this: Is there a ban on employing and promoting white employees? The fact that Dis-Chem refuses to confirm the information leaves us with no choice but to accept that the policy stands,” Hermann said.
According to Solidarity, Dis-Chem goes beyond what the Employment Equity Act allows.
“Solidarity’s litigation strategy will be a mix of an application for disclosure of information and an application to the Labour Court to declare Dis-Chem’s racial policy unlawful,” Hermann explained.
According to Solidarity, the Employment Equity Act prohibits absolute ceilings and quotas and requires flexibility. The labour union will argue that the act and case law in this regard are clear about this.
“There are legal bounds to race legislation. Dis-Chem is now setting a new norm for the private sector. The law cannot be broken in an attempt to comply with an act. Judicial decisions, too, have clearly shown that there are rights of white employees that must also be protected.”
Hermann added that racial legislation and policy must not be used as punishment, but must focus on redress.
“Dis-Chem wants to establish a hard-line racial policy. The goal is simply racial representivity and it has nothing to do with redress,” Hermann said.
Commotion broke out on social media earlier this month after a memorandum from Dis-Chem’s CEO, Ivan Saltzman, imposing a ban on the employment and promotion of white people, was leaked.
In the memorandum, Saltzman expressed the fear that Dis-Chem could be fined if it did not meet its race targets.
Dis-Chem Pharmacies, meanwhile, is facing major backlash after management placed a moratorium on the hiring of white staff.
Saltzman explained that following a recent review of both the employment equity profile in the organisation and the recent broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) verification process, it was evident that the organisation’s efforts to effect transformation in terms of its employee profile remained inadequate.
“We are growing at a fast rate and a few appointments other than white don’t cut it. It’s the ratio between white and black that counts. So, when no suitable black candidate is found and a white is appointed, we need several blacks just to maintain the status quo, never mind moving forward,” Saltzman said.
The now controversial letter to all senior management, dated September 19, 2022, states: “A moratorium is placed on the appointment of white individuals. This includes external and internal appointments.”
Pretoria News