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Trade union Solidarity appealed to all South Africans to send messages of support to Capt. Renate Barnard, after the Labour Appeal Court on Friday ruled in favour of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the controversial affirmative action case in which the trade union is representing her. The matter will now be taken to the Constitutional Court.
 
People can offer their support to Barnard by texting the word ‘Sterkte’ to 34388 or by visiting http://english.solidariteitbeweging.co.za/allofthebestrenate/ and sending her a message. The trade union hopes to collect thousands of support messages for Barnard in this way.
 
Solidarity decided to approach the Constitutional Court to appeal the Labour Appeal Court’s ruling in the Renate Barnard affirmative action case. Solidarity will also request the court to declare the police’s affirmative action plan invalid in its entirety.
 
The Renate Barnard case is one of Solidarity’s 33 affirmative action cases that test different aspects of the state and parastatals’ affirmative action plans. Ten of the cases have already been ruled in Solidarity’s favour. There are 15 cases remaining, all of which relate to affirmative action in the SAPS.
 
Barnard’s affirmative action battle dates back to 2005. She applied for the same position twice and was identified as the best candidate and recommended by the interview panel on both occasions. The position was left vacant, however. The position was advertised for a third time, but was withdrawn after she had reapplied for it.