A South African appeals court has ruled that the Department of Tourism’s focus on only Black businesses for payouts to help the industry overcome the coronavirus pandemic is unlawful.
According to bloomberg.com, the Bloemfontein-based court said the minister of tourism committed an error and is not legally obliged to allocate funds based on Black economic empowerment requirements.
Labor union Solidarity and civil-rights group AfriForum, which often speak out against the government’s race-based redistribution policies and land reform plans aimed at reducing the dominance of White ownership, earlier successfully applied for a freeze on the Tourism Equity Fund because it only focused on Black businesses.
The 1.2 billion rand ($81.2 million), which was set up by the government to assist the industry, was particularly hard hit during the Covid-19 pandemic as border closures and travel restrictions prevent the usual flow of holidaymakers from Europe and elsewhere.
