The managing engineer of the power system control section at the Tshwane municipality, Jaco Weyers, who refused to appoint affirmative action candidates after they did poorly in their job selection tests, has been protected by a court decision for blowing the whistle on what the council was doing.

He protested that four white candidates who had been identified for the posts could not be appointed. The council proceeded with the appointment of black candidates and appointed none of the white candidates.

Weyers objected to the process and wrote to the relevant authorities.

The court ruled that Weyers had made a protective revelation and that disciplinary action could not be taken against him.

He reported the matter to the municipal manager and sent copies of his letter to the Department of Labour and the Engineering Council of South Africa. When disciplinary action was taken against Weyers because of this whistle blowing, he argued that, as a professional engineer, he was bound to the code of conduct of the Tshwane metro council and could not endanger the safety of employees and the public simply for the sake of affirmative action.

"Mr Weyers fought a four-year legal battle for doing the right thing," said Solidarity's deputy general secretary, Dirk Hermann. "Affirmative action cannot be enforced in a manner that endangers the lives of employees and the public. Mr Weyers had to blow the whistle on the way in which affirmative action was being enforced.

"Ironically, it was Mr Weyers and not the City Council who acted in the public's interests. The Engineering Council of South Africa also did the right thing in going to court to protect the profession's interests," he added.