Dis-Chem pharmacies have faced major backlash after the company’s management placed a moratorium on the hiring of white staff. Picture Ian Landsberg/African News Agency (ANA)
Cape Town - Trade union Solidarity has welcomed the announcement that DisChem’s memorandum prohibiting the appointment and promotion of white people has been withdrawn.
Solidarity spokesperson Morné Malan said Solidarity would work to ensure that Dis-Chem’s moratorium on the appointment of white managers was also retracted.
Malan was speaking after the DisChem board issued a statement apologising to South Africans for the tone used in the internal memorandum by CEO Ivan Saltzman, which caused a furore after it was leaked on social media at the weekend.
In the controversial communication dated September 19, Saltzman announced that the pharmaceutical giant was placing a moratorium on the hiring of white managers in a bid to improve its employment equity and transformation objectives.
No appointments would be made at managerial level without the chief executive’s direct approval. And managers who reached their employment equity targets would be rewarded as part of their bonus structure. This was done to avoid a potential fine of 10% of turnover, the CEO said.
On Monday, the Dis-Chem board said the wording and tone of the letter was regrettable but they stood by Saltzman.
“We acknowledge that it did not reflect our values. Its release did not follow our correct internal vetting processes and steps have been put in place to ensure that relevant checks and balances are thoroughly duly performed.
“More importantly, we sincerely regret the offence and distress it caused to so many people, including our staff and millions of loyal customers.”
However, they added: “We stand by the unequivocal imperative to continue our transformation journey.”
Solidarity had threatened that if the memo was not withdrawn, it would take further legal action.
The union said Dis-Chem’s ban on the appointment and promotion of white people was in contravention of the Employment Equity Act.
Solidarity chief executive Dirk Hermann said: “It is a pity that such a memorandum existed at all.”
The SA Human Rights Commission’s Commissioner Andre Gaum said in terms of the Constitution, legislation and international law, the alleged moratorium appeared to be problematic from an equality perspective.
“The law does not permit an absolute ban on the appointment of people based on the racial group they belong to.”
Gaum said that if the SAHRC received a complaint, it would be assessed and if the facts pointed to a prima facie violation of human rights, the Commission would take steps to secure appropriate redress.
Meanwhile, Business Economic Transformation Lobbyist Mandisi Maqetuka said it was time that all South Africans accepted the redress of the apartheid regime’s atrocious injustices legacy through diplomatic mechanisms such as affirmative action and genuine BEE implementation, particularly in the private sector.
Maqetuka, who is a member of the Black Business Chamber, commended Dis-Chem for taking “an executive and conscious decision to lead by example and champion this economic justice spirit within itself”.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za