Eskom wins court case, dismissing racial discrimination claim from former employee
Power utility Eskom has successfully defended its employment equity and senior management “pipelining” practices after the Labour Appeal Court dismissed a racial discrimination claim
Image: File
Power utility Eskom has successfully defended its employment equity and senior management “pipelining” practices after the Labour Appeal Court dismissed a racial discrimination claim by a long-serving employee.
This comes after the Labour Court initially sided with the employee, AP Erasmus, who claimed he was passed over for promotion because he is white. Erasmus had applied for a Senior Manager position at Eskom’s Peaking Power Station, arguing that the company’s diversity and pipelining practices discriminated against non-designated employees.
In its 2024 judgment, the Labour Court had ordered Eskom to take remedial steps to stop the employment practice.
"The Labour Court found that the evidence placed before it went to the question of whether Mr Erasmus was unfairly discriminated against and whether an ‘absolute barrier’ was created by the practice of only shortlisting a category of under-represented candidates".
"It concluded that the evidence established that Eskom’s employment practice amounted to an absolute barrier to non-designated groups and cannot be regarded as an affirmative action measure in terms of the Employment Equity Act 1 (EEA).
However, in a ruling handed down by the Labour Appeal Court on Wednesday, the judgment was overturned. The Appeal Court found that Eskom’s employment equity measures, including its senior management “pipelining” initiative, were lawful and aimed at advancing historically disadvantaged groups.
The court ruled that the practice did not create an absolute barrier for white employees and was a legitimate strategy to achieve diversity and equality at the senior management level.
"In my view, the evidence establishes that Mr Erasmus was not appointed because of the EE targets and the pipeline that Eskom implemented to change the demographics at the 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".
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