The trade union Solidarity says it has commenced with legal action against Stellenbosch University (SU) for the institution’s racially based student selection methods.<\/p>\n
Solidarity said it obtained information through its selection quota campaign which indicated that 67% of the places are reserved for coloured, black and Indian applicants who applied for medicine at Stellenbosch, while only 33% of the places are available for any applicant, regardless of race.<\/p>\n
The trade union argued that although the 33% is available for all races, it means that white students have a far ‘smaller chance’ to obtain admission because of the large number of competitors who meet the minimum requirements and submit applications.<\/p>\n
According to Anton van der Bijl, head of Solidarity’s Centre for Fair Labour Practices, this selection process is based on a rigid application of a quota system.<\/p>\n
“A person’s admission is solely evaluated by a rigid numerical goal that was set. A white person, regardless of his\/her performance and how disadvantaged the specific individual was or is, will always have only a 33% chance to study medicine at Stellenbosch,” van der Bijl said.<\/p>\n
Solidarity pointed out that the Labour Court found in\u00a0 its favour in a recent case against the South African Police Service by stating that affirmative action pursuing groundless and absolute goals, without taking any other factors into consideration, is illegal and invalid.<\/p>\n
“The SU management obviously supports a quota system, which has been proved to be unconstitutional. The system must be revised to be aligned with the law, ” van der Bijl said.<\/p>\n
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