In a court case a few days ago in South Africa, the country’s Police Service consented to a court order that compels it to promote a white man who had been repeatedly refused promotion on racial grounds. “Despite the fact that Mr Van Heerden was the best and preferred candidate for the advertised position, he was still discriminated against merely because of his race, which is prohibited by the Constitution,” Anton van der Bijl, a spokesman for trade union Solidarity said.

Being of European descent “constituted the primary reason why Van Heerden had not been considered for the position”, the trade union stated. According to Van der Bijl, “Despite the fact that Mr Van Heerden was the best and preferred candidate for the advertised position, he was still discriminated against merely because of his race, which is prohibited by the Constitution.”

The South African Police Service conceded what was termed “a huge settlement” to compensate Mr. Van Heerden for having been discriminated against for years when it came to promotion.

“The Employment Equity Act unequivocally prohibits the reservation of jobs for a certain racial group, and for this reason we took on the SAPS and its Employment Equity Plan on behalf of the member as the SAPS’s refusal to promote this candidate on the grounds of his race basically amounted to the reservation of jobs,” said Anton van der Bijl.

Although whites founded the South African state and still pay the greater portion of personal income tax, they are routinely discriminated against when it comes to public service appointments.