SA Police refuse to appoint white forensic experts.
Friday, April 3, 2009
It’s common knowledge that the South African Police Service is experiencing a major shortage of skilled forensic scientists. Despite the fact that numerous cases in court are lost due to a lack of forensic expertise, the SA Police still continue to undermine their own proficiency by leaving senior posts vacant, simply because a racist-driven government policy excludes whites. I have personally experienced the frustrations of applying for posts in this department without any success. In fact, they don’t even bother replying to the many applications I’ve sent over the years. I’ve now given up and will eagerly await the outcome of an important case coming up in the labour court soon.
This story was front page news in yesterdays “Beeld” newspaper (Pretoria Edition):
Johannesburg - The most important test case yet for affirmative action will soon start in the labour court.
According to court documents, the government's emphasis on racially representative employees has resulted in the South African Police Services (SAPS) opting to leave positions for senior forensic scientists vacant rather than appointing white scientists.
The case has been dragging on since November 2004 when the applications for promotion of four scientists - Majors Lionel de de Jager, Corlett van Ham, Hannes Geustyn and H Ueckermann - were turned down because they were white.
Preparations for the complicated case have now been completed and they are only waiting for a court date. The trial will last about five days.
Two of the scientists, Ueckermann and Van Ham, are women, and according to the Employment Equity Act, also entitled to preferential treatment.
Van Ham was also declared partially disabled due to asthma, which made her even more entitled to preferential treatment. She contracted asthma due to the exposure of foreign substances in her workplace.
Ueckermann, a forensic analyst with ten years' experience and an MSc degree, recently emigrated and withdrew from the case.
De Jager had an MSc degree and twelve years' experience in physical and chemical analysis. Van Ham has a BSc Honours degree with seven years' experience as an analyst in forensic laboratories. Geustyn has a BTech degree.
Four senior positions for forensic analysts were advertised in September 2004 for the SAPS' forensic laboratories, claim court documents.
All four applied. The only other applicants were an inspector Mowela and an inspector Mabala.
On November 9 2004, all four white applicants were informed that their applications were not successful as no white candidates were considered. Mowela and Mabala were promoted, but to positions for which they had not applied.
The skills level required for the positions is so rare that it would probably never be possible to fill them following demographic representation, said Solidarity deputy general secretary Dirk Hermann on Wednesday. He is involved in the case.
- Beeld
