Abstract:
All forms of discrimination are prohibited in terms of the South African Constitution.
This prohibition also extends to the labour arena. Any forms of discrimination in the
workplace are prohibited. There is a general view that all people in the employment
sphere should be treated with fairness and equally at all times.
South Africa is not an island. The country is a member of the international community
and a signatory to international conventions which are structured to ensure that the
rights of citizens of the world are upheld.
South Africa as an international companion is bound by international laws as a
signatory to the sources of these laws and as prescribed by the Constitution. The
South African judges must consult international law sources whenever they are
dealing with the interpretation of human rights clauses.
In so far as discrimination is prohibited, there is a form of discrimination that is not
prohibited, namely, the implementation of affirmative action policies. Affirmative action
policies are policies that are accepted to advance those persons who were previously
disadvantaged. This policy empowers them to compete with those persons that
previously were advantaged. It seeks to achieve substantive equality and is therefore
not accepted as unfair discrimination.
In this mini-dissertation, the researcher evaluates the Constitutional Court’s decision
in the matter of South African Police Services v Solidarity obo Barnard. The study
assesses and critically analysis how the court decided the matter and it evaluates the
reasons advanced by the Honourable Court
