Frik van Heerden

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Frik van Heerden
Member of the National Assembly
In office
May 1994 April 1999
Personal details
Citizenship South Africa
Political party National Party

Frederik Jacobus "Frik" van Heerden is a retired South African politician. He represented the National Party (NP) in the apartheid-era House of Assembly from 1987 to 1994 and in the National Assembly from 1994 to 1999.

Contents

Legislative career

Van Heerden represented the NP in the all-white House of Assembly from 1987 to 1994. [1] In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, he was elected to represent the party in the new National Assembly. [2] He left Parliament in April 1999, shortly before the 1999 general election. [1]

Lawsuit

In 2004, van Heerden sued the government, challenging its policy of contributing more money to the pensions of post-1994 MPs than to the pensions of apartheid-era MPs. [3] Van Heerden purported to bring the suit on behalf of 145 other similarly placed former MPs. [1] Although the Cape High Court agreed with him that the pensions policy was discriminatory and unconstitutional, [3] the Constitutional Court struck down the lower court's ruling on appeal in Minister of Finance v Van Heerden . [1]

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<i>Minister of Finance v Van Heerden</i> South African legal case

Minister of Finance and Another v Van Heerden is a landmark decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa on the constitutionality of affirmative action. Delivered in July 2004, it marked the court's first application of the affirmative action clause in section 9(2) of the Bill of Rights. In a majority judgment written by Justice Dikgang Moseneke, the court held that section 9(2) precludes claims of unfair discrimination against any affirmative action measures pursued in conformance with that provision.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Minister of Finance and Other v Van Heerden (CCT 63/03) [2004] ZACC 3; 2004 (6) SA 121 (CC); 2004 (11) BCLR 1125 (CC) ; [2004] 12 BLLR 1181 (CC)". SAFLIII. 29 July 2004. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  2. South Africa: Campaign and Election Report April 26–29, 1994. International Republican Institute. 1994. Retrieved 13 April 2023 via Yumpu.
  3. 1 2 "Manuel being sued over MPs' pension fund". IOL. 20 February 2004. Retrieved 13 May 2023.