A Western Cape official was transferred because of his lifestyle choices, the Cape Town Labour Court heard on Thursday.
Transport MEC Robin Carlisle''s former spokesperson Steven Otter was recently transferred to Premier Helen Zille''s strategic communications unit.
In an application for an urgent interdict to get his job back, Otter claimed that the transfer was illegal and he was discriminated against because he was a vegetarian and teetotaller.
His lawyer Jerome van der Schyff told the court that the department had been trying to get rid of him since last year, but that no formal or informal disciplinary steps had been taken.
"What is crystal clear is that the minister [Carlisle] does not like the fact that the applicant in this matter has an alternative diet," News 24 quoted the lawyer as saying.
"This is a diet. This is his choice not to consume alcohol," he said.
The attorney further said that the only logical conclusion he could make was that there was unease about Otter not fitting in with the rest of the employees, insofar as the employer perceived the correct employee to be.
This prototype was "an alpha male, someone who eats red meat".
Otter has requested the court to set aside the transfer and reinstate him, even though someone else has been hired to replace him.