Court ruling against racial quotas in South Africa

Solidarity has won a case in the Pretoria High Court against the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, on his racial quotas for the legal profession.

These racial codes were declared invalid, and the minister must pay Solidarity’s legal costs. Several major law firms were co-applicants alongside Solidarity in the case.

Dirk Hermann, chief executive of Solidarity, said the ruling is a victory over the government’s racial policy.

Solidarity argued that the sectoral codes, issued in September 2024, amounted to racial scorecards for the workplace.

These racial scorecards have far-reaching implications for law firms of all sizes across the country.

One of the most controversial amendments was the lowering of the threshold for exempt firms to an annual turnover of less than R5 million.

This meant that even smaller law firms would have had to comply with rigid racial requirements.

Solidarity argued that the new sectoral codes are unlawful, irrational and unconstitutional.

According to Solidarity, the racial targets undermine the independence of the legal profession and place an administrative and financial burden on legal practitioners.

“The legal profession should be the very bastion of equality before the law,” Anton van der Bijl, deputy chief executive and head of legal affairs at Solidarity, said.

“However, these so-called sectoral targets put race above merit and threaten the independence of the profession.”

Solidarity further argued that the public consultation process linked to the racial quotas for the legal profession was flawed.

According to Van der Bijl, 76% of the comments submitted opposed the codes, yet these comments were ignored.

The court found that the Minister’s decision to issue the codes was irrational and that he had failed to comply with the statutory and constitutional requirements.

The Pretoria High Court subsequently set aside the racial codes along with a cost order in Solidarity’s favour.