Related Content Policewoman would have been promoted if black

IT was the duty of the courts to determine the balance between an individual’s right to equality and an employer’s duty to maintain employment equity standards, the Labour Court heard today (November 19).

Solidarity advocate John Grogan SC was arguing on behalf of a police captain who claimed she was overlooked for a senior post within the police because she is white.

“The applicant is asking for a finding that there was unfair conduct that prevented her from getting what she should have gotten had this discrimination not been perpetrated.

“Captain [Renate] Barnard was not appointed because her appointment would have frustrated the achievement of the Employment Equity Act... nothing more than logic is required to draw the first inference from the evidence,” Grogan said.

Barnard, an officer with 20 years’ experience, applied for a senior position in a unit dealing with public grievances in 2005 and again in 2006.

She was not appointed on both occasions despite the interview panel recommending her for the post as the best candidate.

A reason advanced by then national police commissioner Jackie Selebi was that Barnard’s appointment was not representative of the police’s employment equity goals. – Sapa