TheNewFaceofCorporateBlackEmpowerment2016
APARTHEID and a legacy of gender discrimination have adversely impacted on the legal profession and inhibited access to both the profession and legal services. Corporate law firms, in particular, remain under pressure to transform more.
This, says Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr’s CEO Brent Williams, is why his firm is tackling the challenges of transformation and empowerment head on.
Any business that wishes to ensure long-term sustainability as a participant in the South African economy and contribute to the country’s economic growth, must address aspects of the Codes of Good Practice under the BroadBased Black Economic Empowerment Act, No 23 of 2003.
“Transformation is about living our values and principles every day. Within the context of South Africa’s history transformation is as much a constitutional imperative as it is a social justice one,” he adds.
The firm therefore strives to have partners, professional and support employees, who are representative of the racial, gender, cultural and religious diversity of the people of South Africa.
He says, “We aspire to be a firm where men and women at all levels within the organisation enjoy equal opportunities and treatment in relation to access to try’s people and where the salience of ‘race’ is less pronounced.”
There is both a formal and informal mentorship programme in which partners and associates participate as mentors and mentees and to which partners and associates make themselves available.
Verushca Pillay, director in the firm’s corporate & commercial department, says the changes to the BEE Codes and the BEE Act have caused CDH to reconsider the way in which it meets empowerment imperatives.
“The BEE Codes have of course made compliance more difficult. Nonetheless we want to ensure that we continue to achieve a high level of compliance and that we adhere to the spirit of the BEE Act.
“The result is a renewed strategy which has a strong focus on empowerment initiatives that promote the development of the legal profession both from an internal and an external perspective.
“We also manage the implementation of our strategy on a regular basis,” she says.
Williams concludes, “Diversity and respect for the individual has to be valued within any firm that intends to take transformation seriously.
“We believe in teamwork for the good of the firm and our clients and, as an employer of choice, we subscribe to the development of our people.”