Tourism minister welcomes ConCourt relief fund ruling
The Constitutional Court has dismissed an urgent appeal by AfriForum and Solidarity to appeal a high court ruling on the Department of Tourism’s Covid-19 relief fund.
The two organisations approached the apex court after the High Court in Pretoria ruled in favour of the department’s stance to have Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) as a requirement when allocating funds.
The Constitutional Court ruled on Friday that the application for leave to appeal “is not in the interest of justice to be heard at the this stage” and that there were insufficient grounds for a direct appeal.
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Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane welcomed the ruling, saying government programmes are guided by the principles of fairness, equity and justice.
“It is therefore inconceivable for this particular programme to be discriminatory on the basis on race,” she said.
Kubayi-Ngubane also called on the two organisations to allow the department to do its job.
“We call upon both AfriForum and Solidarity to allow the department to focus on the work at hand, primarily the provision of the much-needed relief to distressed beneficiaries and the imperative to lead the recovery of sector.”