Moneyweb reports that Eskom has successfully appealed a Labour Court (LC) judgment that ruled that the utility’s practice of not shortlisting members of non-designated groups for advertised posts amounted to an absolute barrier and was not an affirmative action measure as contemplated by the Employment Equity Act (EEA).
A judgment handed down in the Labour Appeal Court (LAC) on Wednesday upheld Eskom’s appeal and set aside and dismissed the LC judgment handed down in May 2024. In the LC judgment, Judge Hilary Rabkin-Naicker ruled that Eskom had “unfairly discriminated” against one Altus Erasmus and also ordered that “Eskom must take remedial steps to ensure that the said practice ceases”. The judge had ordered Eskom to pay Erasmus compensation equal to 18 months of his salary at the time he applied for the post of manager for site outage execution at a peaking power station for Eskom’s group technology division.
However, the LAC said the evidence established that Erasmus was not appointed because of the employment equity (EE) targets and the pipeline Eskom implemented to change the demographics at senior management level. “This was a rational way to target a particular class of persons who have been susceptible to unfair discrimination at that level. It was conceived to protect and advance them, and it promotes equality,” the LAC said. The background to this matter is fully described in the Moneyweb article.
- Read the full original of the comprehensive report in the above regard by Roy Cokayne at Moneyweb
Get other news reports at the SA LabourNews home page