Justice minister steps in to monitor ‘shameful’ Bar
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma has made 17 advocates of the Cape Bar senior counsel – and not one of them is a black African.
Only four of the new “silks” are people of colour: Ranjan Jaga, Mohamed Salie, Nazreen Bawa and Tanya Golden.
The situation has been described as “shameful”.
Now Justice Minister Michael Masutha has stepped in to make sure that the Cape Bar – said to be one of the most untransformed Bars in the country – gets its house in order.
Masutha took it upon himself to sort out the issue and called for support from Advocates for Transformation, the Black Lawyers Association and the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (Nadel).
Nadel declined to be involved because its stance is that the institution of silk should be abolished.
The minister flew to Cape Town to meet the Cape Bar Council, and the Black Lawyers Association and the Advocates for Transformation were brought on board to address the skewed racial and gender representivity.
The entire process has put the white, male-dominated Cape Bar under tremendous pressure.
In correspondence addressed to the minister, the Cape Bar said it was giving the matter serious attention.
It has proposed an amendment to silk guidelines to provide for judges’ comments to be invited as part of the process.
Zuma conferred silk status on the 17 last month, on October 22.
According to the Cape Bar Council’s updated figures, there are 95 silks of whom 86 are men and nine are women, including Bawa, Golden, Janet McCurdie and Michelle Norton.
There is only one black LAST month a race row erupted at the South Gauteng High Court when it emerged all the advocates briefed in the landmark silicosis class action – probably the largest public-interest lawsuit – were white men.
A submission was handed to court signed by 115 members objecting to Richard Spoor’s comments which implied black lawyers were not good enough. African silk at the Cape Bar, seven coloureds and three Indians. The overwhelming majority are white men.
Cape Bar Council chairman John Butler was not prepared to comment, but said the council was taking steps to try to address the issue of transformation.
This week, many in the industry were reluctant to speak about the situation, describing it as highly sensitive.
But Dumisa Ntsebeza, national spokesman for Advocates for Transformation, said: “It is shocking that there is not even one black African.”
And it was “a shame” that in this day and age, there were so few female silks, especially black females.
Ntsebeza was critical of the Bar Council, saying that the situation did not reflect well on members.
Black Lawyers Association president Lutendo Sigogo described the situation in the Western Cape as “worrying”, saying the association would not rest until changes were made.
Sigogo said the lack of transformation in the Western Cape should not be seen in isolation, saying that it went to the root of skewed briefing patterns. He was disappointed that the Cape Bar was still dominated by white males.
Nadel’s regional chairman and the Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.
The appointments of the new silks came soon after the Joburg Bar adopted a no-nonsense rule to transform the legal industry. This puts senior counsel at risk of disciplinary action with harsh sanctions if black practitioners are not appointed as their juniors in certain matters.
The rule makes it a disciplinary offence for lead counsel to remain on brief in cases involving a team of three or more advocates, where none is black.
Senior counsel who transgress the rule will be charged with unprofessional conduct and face suspension. Removal from the roll of advocates may also be imposed in cases involving repeat offenders.
Senior counsel have also been encouraged to give black women preference.
Advocates for Transformation in the Western Cape has been discussing whether to approach the Bar Council about a similar move in the province.