Desai shares wealth gap worries with black US lawyers
Americans reflect on common issues
One of SA’s most senior judges has lamented the wealth disparity that persists in the country more than 25 years after democracy.
Western Cape High Court judge Siraj Desai addressed a cocktail function hosted by the Black Lawyers’ Association (BLA) to welcome members of the National Bar Association (NBA)‚ one of the largest bars for African-American lawyers and judges in the US‚ at the District Six Homecoming Centre in Cape Town on Sunday. The NBA will host the Cape Town leg of its judicial council midwinter meeting and conference tomorrow.
Welcoming his American counterparts‚ Desai said SA had achieved a lot since 1994‚ but he noted that inequality continued.
“The incontrovertible fact is that after 20 years of democracy‚ we are today one of the most unequal societies in the world‚” said Desai.
“If I may plead with you not simply to see Cape Point‚ Cape Agulhas and the Winelands‚ I would say see our cultures through the townships‚ and to see the poverty of our people.
“We have a long way to go‚ although we have an advanced legal order in this country. We have probably one of the progressive constitutions in this world. It’s an advanced country in that sense of the law.”
Desai said the interaction between SA and America’s legal practitioners was crucial for the profession.
“We debated with the people of the world how we could end apartheid. We need to debate with you and the people of the world how we can create a better society both here and elsewhere.”
NBA member, judge Shaun Graves-Robertson, said there were a number of similarities between the South African and the US legal systems. He said the US also grappled with drugs and women abuse‚ for example.
“We really don’t have words to talk about how joyous‚ how special this occasion is‚” said Graves-Robertson.
“It is our hope this is the first of many meetings to come between the American judges and lawyers and lawyers and judges of SA. The systems‚ although they are different‚ you can see similarities and even greater than the systems‚ the issues. We are going to be talking about the abuse of women‚ we are going to be talking about drug abuse. We talked about intellectual property when we were in Johannesburg‚ we talked about the civil system and the criminal system and how they differ. We are looking for joint solutions.”
BLA deputy president Bayethe Maswazi said the legal profession still mirrored the apartheid system.