Maroela Media reports that on Wednesday, trade union Solidarity initiated formal steps in a bid to halt Bidvest’s bursary programme, which excludes white children in the low-income category.
In a letter to Bidvest, Solidarity demanded that it should amend the programme before 25 July so that no employee was excluded from the programme. Bidvest has a bursary programme for school-going children from Grade 4 to Grade 12. Full-time employees can apply for the programme if they earn less than R15,300 per month before deductions. The bursary covers school fees and other expenses. However, white employees who also fall below the threshold are excluded. In the letter, Dr Dirk Hermann, CEO of Solidarity, said the programme was morally unjust and did not comply with constitutional international requirements and the Employment Equity Act. According to Solidarity, employee benefits in low-income categories cannot be allocated according to race. “A white employee earning less than R15,300 has precisely the same challenges with their children as a black employee. Both incomes create huge challenges in creating excellent educational opportunities for their children. What Bidvest is doing for black children is noble, but what they are doing to white children is racist,” Hermann pointed out. “The programme goes beyond the constitutional intent of any empowerment law. The intent could never have been to discriminate against children of parents who earn a low income,” Hermann stated.
- Read the full original of the Afrikaans report in the above regard by Elisma van der Watt at Maroela Media
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