Publications
Partners
Cape Town - The constitution and the bodies it set up have come under attack over the past week, says Terry Bell in his latest Labour Wrap.
However, he says most of the attacks have been based on misrepresentation, and that this was either deliberate or through ignorance.
The one case that has seen racism surface was that before the Constitutional Court of Renate Barnard, the police Lt Colonel who fought an eight-year battle because of being denied promotion. Her case was taken up by her union, Solidarity.
But while there is a racial or ethnic dimension to this case, Bell maintains that the issue is much more complicated. As such lawyers will doubtless have a field day arguing about the decision for years.
And he says misrepresentation is also evident in the attacks on the public protector and her office by the likes of the SA Democratic Teachers Union, the SA Communist Party and leading elements in the ANC. This underlines, he says, the need to gather in all the facts before making comment.
However, the Concourt decision has again brought to the fore the whole question of employment equity. And the Concourt decision seems to stress that equity policies should always be applied with care.
Watch:
* What do you think? Add your voice to the employment equity and labour debate or ask Terry a labour-related question.
Terry Bell is a political, economic and labour analyst. Views expressed are his own. Follow him on twitter @telbelsa.
