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Yesterday civil resistance resulted in the Department of Trade and Industry retracting its proposed empowerment codes for socio-economic development contributions, the trade union Solidarity said today. More than 11 000 messages of protest against the codes were collected in 11 days by means of Solidarity’s StopRob campaign.        
 
Dirk Hermann, Deputy General Secretary of Solidarity, thanked the public, who had participated in the campaign in large numbers. ‘The 11 000 objections would have been presented to the Department of Trade and Industry next week. The retraction of the codes for socio-economic development contributions shows that civil resistance works. South African citizens do not always realise the power of civil democracy.’
 
If the controversial new empowerment codes had been implemented, companies' socio-economic development contributions would only have been recognised if 100% of the beneficiaries were black. Non-racial welfare organisations would have been materially disadvantaged. The retraction of the proposed codes for socio-economic development contributions means that the applicable provisions of the current codes will remain unchanged for now.     
 
'We are overjoyed at the retraction of the codes for socio-economic development contributions. The more than 11 000 objections to the codes played a decisive role in stopping the implementation of this ill-considered social engineering.’ Hermann added that the fact that the proposed codes already made it across the cabinet table before being withdrawn, points a finger to Cabinet.            
 
In the interim, Solidarity had already obtained a legal opinion that indicated that the proposed codes are unconstitutional. 'We would definitely have taken legal action if the department had not retracted the applicable parts of the proposed new codes.'       
 
According to Hermann the codes for socio-economic development contributions were 100% wrong. Not only needy white people would have been disadvantaged by the empowerment codes, but thousands of needy black people as well. If only 1% of the children in an orphanage were white, the 99% black children would also be disadvantaged. The codes for socio-economic development contributions discouraged any kind of integration. 'There is no justification to discriminate against needy people based on race. How can you discriminate against a poor toddler, a person with cancer, a child from an orphanage or a needy elderly person based on race? It is unacceptable.'