A year after Solidarity laid a charge on racial quotas against the South African government at the United Nations, the trade union now has to appear before the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 8 August. In the same week, the South African government has to appear before the same committee. This is the first time since 1994 that the South African government is being charged with racial discrimination at the United Nations.

According to the Solidarity charge, the South African government has been contravening the UN convention prohibiting all forms of racial discrimination. The charge focuses on the state’s use of the national racial demography as a quota policy.

The focus is also on the government’s unwillingness to implement court judgments, which have already proved that the state is going too far with racial quotas.

Racial quotas are also imposed on the sports fields and therefore AfriForum will join Solidarity in the UN.

The charge is in the form of a shadow report that is a response to the report the government submitted to the committee on progress made with eliminating racial discrimination.

The convention provides for civil organisations like Solidarity and AfriForum to charge a government by means of a shadow report that is submitted in response to the specific government’s own report to the committee.

The core of the charge is that the South African government’s absolute focus on racial representivity is in conflict with the provisions of the convention. The state’s racial policy goes beyond internationally acceptable affirmative action and does not meet the international requirement of affirmative action any more.

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