South Africa's appeals court ruled the Department of Tourism's focus on only Black businesses for payouts to help the industry overcome the coronavirus pandemic is unlawful.
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.
Read more: S. Africa Blocked From Making Payouts With Tourism Fund: Fin24
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