This year forty candidates had been included in SAA’s cadet programme . The group consisted of ten black men, four black women, nine coloured men, one coloured woman, seven Indian men, two Indian women and seven white women. The airline said they do not need any more white men flying their planes and excluded all white males as candidates. At first white males could not even log into the application process as they were blocked from the application form on the SAA website should they enter white and male as demographics. This was later rectified, but no while males were called for interviews.
Meanwhile trade union Solidarity lodged a complaint with the HRC who is now investigating SAA. As applications for next year’s training programme closes today, Solidarity has written to SAA with a request to postpone its cadet programme for the time being while it is being investigated by HRC.
Head of Solidarity’s Centre for Fair Labour Practices, Dirk Groenewald, says SAA has been requested to postpone the finalisation of its 2014 intake for the cadet programme pending the HRC’s ruling on the case. ‘Alternatively, the SAA has been requested to confirm in writing that, provided they meet the minimum criteria, white men will be included among the successful candidates.’
Solidarity asked the HRC to investigate the SAA cadet training programme on behalf of ten white men who applied for the cadet programme but were unsuccessful due to their skin colour. ‘These ten candidates’ right to equality, dignity and freedom of trade and profession was violated by SAA since they would have been considered if it had not been for their race.’
We says don’t fly with a racist airline. There are enough better deals, better service and more honest airlines out there to support. What was once a proud airline is now a disgrace, plain and simple. Don’t fly SAA!
