Concourt hears parking row ‘swart man’ appeal

THE Constitutional Court is set to have a final say on whether a white employee was being racist when he called a black contractor a “swart man” during a fit of rage over a parking spot.

Yesterday, a full bench heard the case Rustenburg Platinum Mines was pursuing against Meyer Bester, an employee who allegedly hurled racial abuse at another in the workplace.

The mine approached the court in a bid to set aside a ruling of the Labour Appeal Court that favoured Bester. Delivered in May, this judgment invalidated a Labour Court ruling that upheld the employer’s decision to fire Bester.

Rustenburg Platinum Mines fired Bester in 2013 following a disciplinary hearing. It found him guilty of racially abusing Solly Tlhomelang, the contractor, by referring to him as a “swart man”, an Afrikaans phrase translating to black man, while angry over parking.

During the incident, Bester stormed the office of chief safety officer Ben Sedumedi and shouted that he should remove the car belonging to this black man.

The Labour Appeal Court concluded it could not find that Bester referred to Tlhomelang in a racial context.

“Race descriptors such as ‘black man’ and ‘black woman’ are neutral and only by locating them in a ‘pejorative’ context that their use should be condemned as racist,” the court’s ruling read.

Arguing for Rustenburg Platinum Mines yesterday, Feroze Boda SC told the Constitutional Court the context under which Bester referred to Tlhomelang’s race indicated his remarks were not innocuous, but outright racist.

Bester intended to denigrate Tlhomelang, said Boda. “It was said in a hostile, arrogant way.”

Andre Landman SC, for Bester, argued his client was not being racist towards Tlhomelang by referring to him as a black man. “The question arises: Is it racially abusive to merely call someone a swart man?” he asked.

He maintained Bester did not know Tlhomelang’s name, hence he resorted to his race.

Bester had nothing to gain from throwing racial remarks in the episode, Landman further told the court.

The court reserved its judgment.