On Thursday, thousands of members of the Solidarity Movement will serve court papers on Sasol at its head-office in Sandton.

Major traffic congestion is expected during the protest march to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) where a memorandum will be handed over, after which the march will continue to Sasol’s Head Office.  

The serving of the court documents come in the wake of a dispute between Sasol and Solidarity because white people have been excluded from the Khanyisa employee share scheme. Solidarity will ask the Labour Court to find that the total exclusion of a particular group of employees based on their race amounts to unfair discrimination.

According to Solidarity Chief Executive Dr Dirk Hermann, Solidarity members gave Solidarity a mandate to intensify the action against Sasol. This led to the decision to stage the protest march and to go to court.

“It is a pity that we have to go to court about something that so obviously cannot be morally justified. The total exclusion of any group of employees can never be justified. This form of racial exclusion also takes place at other companies and that is why we have decided to present a memorandum to the JSE as well,” Hermann said.

The greater Solidarity Movement, that includes AfriForum, Solidarity Helping Hand, the FAK and the School Support Centre (SOS), gave its support to this march.

Solidarity members started with a strike at Sasol at the beginning of September. This strike led to major disruption in Sasol’s production. The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) joined the dispute, but Sasol refused to make any concessions.

A convoy of busses and motors will depart from the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria on Thursday morning at 08:00 to Sandton. People coming from other places can park at the Rosebank Union Church from 10:00. From there they will be transported via busses to Mushroom Farm Park in Sandton where the march will begin at 11:00. Mushroom Farm Park is also walking distance from the Gautrain station.

The media are hereby invited to attend the march. The march will begin at 11:00 from Mushroom Farm Park in Sandton.

Dirk Hermann
Chief Executive: Solidarity
082 461 8485

Francois Redelinghuys
Spokesperson: Solidarity
072 689 9113