The F W de Klerk Foundation has been approached by a number of employees of the Department of Correctional Services in the Western Cape with regard to the imposition of national demographics on employment practices in the Western Cape. In terms of the new policy, the Department plans to reduce the percentage of coloured employees in the Western Cape from the present 39% to 9% of the total, in keeping with the percentage that coloureds represent in the national population.
In practice, this means that there has been a virtual freeze on the employment and promotion of coloureds in the DCS in the Western Cape, and that vacancies are being rapidly filled by candidates – who are often less qualified – from other parts of the country.
The F W de Klerk Foundation believes that this action is unconstitutional because it clearly constitutes unfair discrimination in terms of Section 9 (3). The DCS policy is also illegal because it does not comply with s. 42 (a) (i) of the Employment Equity Act which requires that the demographic profile of the national and regional economically active population must be taken into consideration when complying with employment equity.
The policy also makes no practical sense because it means that staff from other parts of the country – who cannot speak Afrikaans – are being deployed in prisons where Afrikaans in the primary language.
The Foundation is accordingly doing everything it can to assist the affected employees.
