Own car stifles black attorneys
Legal Practice Council tackles licence and Afrikaans requirements saying they are anti-transformation
THE LEGAL Practice Council (LPC) has revealed its resolve to amend rules that enable law firms to require prospective candidate attorneys to possess their own car and licence.
This practice is anti-transformative, said the LPC. But indications were that the car and licence requirement was just one of counter-transformation practices prevalent in the country’s legal sector.
A desktop search reveals dozens of attorney candidate vacancy adverts requiring applicants to be fluent in Afrikaans, in addition to English.
Some adverts said that the prospective employer only invited applications from Afrikaans speakers.
The LPC’s notice published in the government gazette last Friday was aimed specifically towards the car and license requirements.
“The Legal Practice Council has become aware that some prospective employers of candidate legal practitioners require that the applicant be in possession of a driver’s licence and/or owns or has access to a motor vehicle for use in the course of employment,” chairperson Kathleen Matolo-Dlepu said in the notice.
“The Council believes that this practice is anti-transformative, and prejudices persons from disadvantaged backgrounds, and it intends to amend the rules promulgated under the Legal Practice Act to prevent this anti-transformation practice.”
Under the proposed amendments, it will be a misconduct for prospective employers to “stipulate in an advertisement that it is a requirement that an applicant must be in possession of a valid driver’s licence or owns or has access to the use of a vehicle”.
It will also be a misconduct to inquire during interviews if a prospective candidate legal practitioner has a car or licence.
The Black Lawyers Association (BLA) welcomed the notice as it had campaigned for the abolishing of the practice of requiring new graduates to have cars in order to get candidate jobs, its president Mashudu Kutama said yesterday.
“We noted that white law firms in particular require candidates to have cars and licences. That, to us, is discriminatory and exclusionary,” Kutama said.
But this was just one of several counter-transformation practices in the legal sector, he said.
“We condemn the requirement of Afrikaans in adverts. The requirement must be English.
“We’re pleased that the Chief Justice (Mogoeng Mogoeng) has issued a directive that the language of the courts is English.
“The language of the court now, as per the directive of the Chief Justice, is English,” said Kutama, adding that requiring fluency in Afrikaans was exclusionary.
Kutama said he was aware that a language policy for the law profession was in the pipeline.
He called for the removal of all practices that made it difficult for black graduates to serve their articles.
“We want easy access to the profession,” Kutama said.
He said harsh action must be taken against firm owners found guilty of asking graduate candidates if they had cars or licences.
Black law graduates have previously complained of various anti-transformation practices in the sector.
The Afrikaans requirement topped their complaints, followed by the car demand.
There were also qualms about low stipends, with some decrying getting as low as R3 000 per month.
Roleplayers, including the affected black graduates, have until August 10 to comment on the proposed amendments. |