A woman chief justice will enhance the bench

Suggestions that the next chief justice be a woman must be considered. A genderdiverse bench reflects a bias-free judiciary. Since democracy we have had a woman commissioner of police, women judges of distinction, women in senior cabinet positions and in parliament.

Unless transformation involves women in top judicial posts, they will remain recipients of change rather than becoming agents of change. People equate a genderdiverse judiciary with more representative governance. Women in many countries are becoming leaders in their fields. Yet many courts still do not adequately reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.

The more socially diverse the judicial benches are, the stronger the judiciary is. This will improve public trust in the judiciary and increase access to justice. The judiciary will not be trusted if it is viewed as a bastion of male dominance, oblivious to changes in society and to the needs of the most vulnerable.

Achieving equality for women judges in terms of representation at all levels of the judiciary should be our goal because it is right for the achievement for a more just rule of law.

Women judges are strengthening the judiciary and helping gain the public’s trust.

This is why our next chief justice should be a woman; it will solidify and enhance the legitimacy of the judiciary.

We have about 80 women judges in our country. They all have the skills, intellectual capability and legal prowess to become the next chief justice.

Farouk Araie, Benoni

Land reform not for select few

With the passing of one of our land reform champions, Vuyokazi Mahlati, SA lost a great visionary leader, an activist whose main vision and passion helped her to contribute immensely in developing a clear agricultural and land reform strategy.

As we mourn her, I urge South Africans and the farming community to work towards social cohesion and nationbuilding. If events in Senekal and elsewhere in our country are anything to go by, her hard work and legacy could disappear.

I applaud the minister of agriculture & land reform, Thoko Didiza, for releasing 700,000ha of unused or vacant agricultural state land. It shows that finally land reform is bringing hope to the hopeless and the landless.

The department of agriculture should enforce a legal framework that allows the subdivision of land, keeping in mind that the government is also targeting different groups, such as graduates, women, youth, and others. This will be a proper mix of ideas that will rekindle our agrarian trajectory. To many, this may sound unjust, but allocating something like 1,000ha to a single individual sounds unjust.

The Freedom Charter reminds us that our forebears pledged that “land shall be shared among those who work it”, and this may be ideal to deal with many sceptics who believe that only a few, connected individuals stand to benefit.

Rankepile Khomo, Duduza

Bruce is right about jobs

In his column, “To get jobs back, get the employers back” (October 18), Peter Bruce tells it as it is.

The reality that just about everyone in the world knows is that governments don’t create jobs, they create an environment conducive to job creation. Most job creation across the world in the future will be via small business. Big business can afford computerisation, industrialisation and mechanisation. Small businesses often have space for unqualified blue-collar workers. This will be the best means of job creation in SA over the next decade.

We can have lots of plans, many conferences and even more job summits. None of these seems to translate into actual job creation.

It is disastrous to offer 800,000 jobs in the civil service once again. These jobs will only pay R11 an hour (far below the national minimum wage) and will be for a short period. Such jobs are transient and don’t impart any skills.

Over and above the VAT problem that Bruce faced, many small businesses have to register with the bargaining councils, which place all sorts of restrictions and costs on them. The bargaining councils create a handbrake to job creation.

Michael Bagraim, DA MP

Civil servants are struggling

I agree with many things articulated by professor Tshilidzi Marwala, “Restore legitimacy of the state to revitalise our economy” (October 18).

However, I differ with himon the civil service.

Most civil servants do not earn more than R300,000 a year. I refer to the police, prison warders, teachers, nurses and office workers. They have expenses such as home loans, utilities, food, school fees, insurance policies, etcetera. Many are coping, at present, due to the reduction in interest rates, but interest rates will not remain the same forever. What will happen when they start to balloon? People will default on credit repayments; alternatively, they will opt for the cancellation of insurance policies and medical aid to save for basic necessities.

The standard of living increase is necessary in that it enables the employees to cope with annual increases in medical aid, insurance policies, electricity and fuel.

Marwala, in his article, turned a blind eye to corruption whereby political elites are stealing the money that is meant to promote the general welfare of society.

Even though the public sector wage bill is of concern, the majority of civil servants are struggling.

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