ConCourt dismisses Solidarity’s bid to appeal Covid-19 tourism fund decision

The
Constitutional Court has dismissed an urgent application brought by union
Solidarity to appeal the High Court’s decision to allow the Department of
Tourism to include Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment criteria in its
allocation of tourism Covid-19 relief.

Solidarity and its associate Afriforum had approached the Constitutional Court after the North Gauteng High Court ruled in the Department of Tourism’s favour in April.

While Tourism
Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane welcomed the dismissal, Solidarity said in a
statement on Saturday that it did not consider the matter closed.

“The
Constitutional Court dismissed Solidarity’s application to appeal directly to
this court. The application followed a ruling by the North Gauteng High Court
that the use of race as criterion to determine who may receive aid during the
Covid-19 crisis was justified. 

“However, the court has not yet given a ruling on
AfriForum’s application,” Solidarity said. Should the court also dismiss AfriForum’s application, both
parties will appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, it added.

The two parties had argued that using the empowerment-based
codes would not allow white-owned companies to compete fairly against
black-owned entities
, adding that the system was unconstitutional.

An earlier judgment by the North Gauteng High Court found
that the criteria of BB-BEE codes of good practice did not perpetuate unfair
advantage by black companies.

The minister previously described the matter as “worth defending” and added that transformation was critical within the sector.

Early in April, a R200-million
fund was announced by the Department of Tourism to assist small and medium
tourism-related businesses
 whose operations have been financially
impacted by Covid-19 related operational challenges. Funding is to be capped at
R50 000 per business. 

The sector is one of the industries hardest hit by the
pandemic as travel restrictions have been rolled out across the globe.

* Compiled by Marelise van der Merwe

 

 

 


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