Address by the Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande to the occasion of the South African Chapter of the international Association of Women Judges (SAC-IAWJ) 17th Annual General Meeting and Conference
Program Director;
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services; Mr Ronald Lamola; The Deputy Chief Justice, Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya; Members of the Judiciary;
Academic Institutions; Distinguished guests; Members of the media; Ladies and Gentlemen
Good Morning Introduction
Let me take this opportunity to thank the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges for inviting me to this occasion of the Annual General Meeting and Conference with the theme: “Resilience and Innovation #End Gender-Based Violence”.
This occasion is taking place during South Africa’s Women’s Month, when we commemorate and pay tribute to the more than 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 in protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women. It was a system that also sought to entrench partriarchy even further amongst the oppressed themselves, by reducing women into passive beings, at the mercy of men.
We celebrate this year’s Women Month under the theme: “Women’s Socio-Economic Rights and Empowerment: Building Back Better for Women’s Improved Resilience”.
Women’s Month is a tribute not only to the thousands of women who marched on that day in 1956, but is also a tribute to the pioneers of the women’s movement in this country, dating back to 1913, when women like Charlotte Maxeke led the way in establishing the ANC Women’s League and encouraging women to engage in the struggle for freedom. Pioneers include Cissy, Jaynab and Amina Gool, who were amongst the leaders of the National Liberation League and the Non-European United Front of the 1930s.
Women’s month is also a month for the further mobilisation of women to be at the forefront in the struggle for women’s emancipation.
Progress and continuing contradictions since 1994
It is a fact that our 1994 democratic breakthrough (as some of us call it) marked huge progress in the struggle against racism and gender inequalities in South African society. It is no mean achievement that since then we have virtually done away with all racist legislation in our statute books, and we no longer have public facilities that are meant for blacks and whites separately (whether it is schools, hospitals, public transport, etc).
Since 1994, not only have we done away with racist and partriarchal legislation and law, but we have also passed numerous laws and adopted policies that have gone a long way in promoting a non-racial and non-sexist society, despite the many challenges that we still face.
However as I address this distinguished gathering it is also important to to remind ourselves that the struggle against apartheid sought to address THREE deeply interrelated contradictions: race, class and gender. That is racial oppression and domination; class, rooted in socio-economic inequalities; and the oppression and superexploitation of especially black women. It was for this reason that in the past we spoke about the TRIPLE oppression of women - as blacks, as workers and the poor, and as women.
Despite the many advances we have made since 1994 there is still stubborn persistence of these contradictions, and today some of them manifesting themselves even more violently, especially the scourge of gender based violence.
Our court system and administration of justice is not immune to these realities. For instance, much as we have one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, the full realisation of its promise and commitment continues to be severely constrained by the persistence of these contradictions.
Affirming women magistrates and judges is one important way of confronting and changing these realities. However at the same time we must be acutely aware that affirming and appointing women in the judiciary is a necessary but not sufficient condition for transformation. Women in the judiciary must continue to be empowered so that they are able to perform their roles better. In other words, it is not enough to be a woman judge, but you must be an enlightened and progressive woman judge! It is for this reason that it is absolutely important that you continue to be organised in these platforms and also seek to train and develop yourselves.
We need to avoid the attitude that once one ascends to a position of power, therefore you know everything - whether as a minister, a judge, a political leader or professional. Good leaders are those who understand that they need to perpetually be learning! That is why I embrace your conscious decision to organise and develop yourselves as this affirms the underlying principles and philosophy of our education system in South Africa, including my department, that of LIFELONG LEARNING. Hence Justice Maya, I today
commit my department to actively engage with the judiciary on an ongoing basis, not only on the subject of judicial and legal education and training, but broadly on skills development for the judiciary and other legal officers.
Coming back to the issue of the three contradictions, it is also not uncommon that corruption amongst the rich (mostly white men) is given fancy titles, like ‘accounting irregularities’ (eg in Steinhoff and Tongaat Hulett Group). Embedded in this is the notion that blacks are inherently corrupt and whites now and again are faced with the inconvenience of ‘irrregularities’ of different sorts, but not corruption!
Similarly the class contradiction that sharply manifest itself in our legal and court system is that the rich stand a much better chance to frustrate the implementation of the rule of law as they have unlimited resources to hire expensive lawyers to win cases or even if they do not win but have the capacity to delay the dispensing of justice and accountability for years!
Another class reality that we face is that much as our constitution is progressive, but it is being implemented in the context of a hugely unequal society, where most of the wealth is still in the hands of a small minority. Most of that wealth is not in the coffers of the state but in private hands. That is why some have correctly argued in my view that much as our constitution is progressive, but most of its promise is an unfunded mandate. Our judiciary has to be fully alive to all these contradictions and realities! That is why I welcome one of the topics you have identified for your own training and development, that of “Social Context in judicial decision making”. In other words, the class, race and gender context in judicial decision making!
Ladies and gentlemen
Over the course of our struggles, women have vigorously pursued their rightful place in society, fighting against patriarchal resistance across various spheres of society, including law.
We all know that for apartheid and colonial reasons, it took longer for blacks and in particular African women to join the ranks of the legal profession, with the enrolment of Desiree Finca as the first black and African woman attorney only in 1967.
Organising yourselves through these platforms is critical in ensuring that our 1994 democratic breakthrough does indeed translate to substantive inclusive democracy and socio-economic order where women take their rightful place, as also contained in section 174(2) of the Constitution - which dictates that the judiciary must reflect broadly racial and gender composition of South Africa as an important consideration when judicial officers are appointed. Without organising yourselves as women in the judiciary these changes won’t happen on their own.
It is undisputed that as female judges you always have an important role to play, as you have unique life experiences, you are facing and overcoming unique prejudices and socio-economic challenges, that enriches your perspectives in the administration of justice.
PSET demographics on women
In our universities, the number of women entering the field of law shows that young girls have an interest in the legal profession; the undergraduate (UG) enrolment in 2021 indicates that we had 55 172 female students and 34 315 male students; whilst at Masters Level we have 2 369 female students and 1 915 male students.
However, I am still concerned about what I see as a high number of unemployed LLB graduates. Partly this may have to do with the fact that doing articles is still disproportional dependent on spaces in private law firms. About 10 years ago, I engaged the Law Society about why is government not increasingly being used for legal articles. I am for instance in court every day as a Minister!
There is no doubt also that as female judges in a male dominated eye space you serve as role models to our girls and young females, thus inspiring future generations of female legal scholars, lawyers, and judges.
I noted in the 2021/22 Annual Judiciary Report that:
In Magistrate Courts during the period under review, a total of 158 Magistrates were appointed, of which 46% (73 of 158) were black females, 39% (62 of 158) were black
males, 9% (15 of 158) were white females and 5% (8 of 158) were white males.
In Superior Courts for the same period, the race and gender composition of the Judges is made up of 39% black males (98 of 253), 32% black females (81 of 253), 17% (42 of 253)
white males and 13% white females (33 of 253). Programme Director - Ladies and gentlemen
Given the demographics in our country, there is absolutely no reason why we cannot have the majority of our judges or legal practitioners being women!!!
Today I want to assure you that as the Department of Higher Education and Training and also as the Department of Science and Innovation we stand ready to assist through skills development, advancing innovation and student funding to change these demographics.
Innovation and skills development for the judiciary
I am particularly pleased that you are also focusing on the issue of innovation. This is a hugely important matter for the judiciary and indeed for myself as the minister entrusted with science, technology and innovation. Our judicial and legal systems needs innovation in buckets. Just to highlight a few challenges, there is a lot that is needed to be done to modernise paper administration in the judiciary.
The task of physically initiating every page of an affidavit manually, as well as the rather backward system of recording court proceedings are some of the areas that require urgent attention. With artificial intelligence and other new technologies we have today, there is lots that can be done to modernise paper work and the administration of justice and the courts in our system.
Without going into further details in this regard, I offer my Department of Science and Innovation and its Science entities like the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI), to work together with yourselves to seriously explore new technologies in order to modernise your work!
On skills development for the judiciary, I wish to point out that the Safety and Security Sector Education and Training Authority (SASSETA) has told me that it is already working with the Office of the Chief Justice on the training and skills development needs of the judiciary. I urge the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges (SAC-IAWJ) to engage on this front so that also the skills required by women magistrates and judges, including gender education are addressed as well.
I am aware of some of the areas that you have identified for training such as Intensive Social Context; Judicial Ethics; Judicial Officer Functions; Skills Development and Judgment Writing; Leadership and Management. I would however suggest that you consider digital skills as well.
Tackling Gender Based Violence in PSET
Programme Director , I am equally happy that in your theme today, you have included the call for an End to Gender-Based Violence.
South African girls and women have for decades endured the risk, violence, and brutality of Gender-based Violence (GBV).
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO 2013), the lifetime risk of experiencing GBV is 45.6% for South African women; well above the global average of 35%.
According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), gender-based violence and intimate partner violence are amongst the most prevalent forms of GBV in young women aged 16-25 years.
Our Post-School Education and Training (PSET) sector is home to more than 2,5 million youth, with 51% being females, some of whom will be our future judges. It is therefore unfortunate that 10% ff all reported rape cases originate from young women in the higher education sector. Sadly, only one in ten women report a rape case.
Together with our health and wellness agency, called HIGHER HEALTH, the Department of Higher Education and Training has done much over the past few years to implement sustainable and impactful systems, controls, infrastructure, and safety nets to address the scourge of GBV within the PSET sector.
Our institutions are part of the broader community and are microcosms of the larger society, as a result, they all equally affected by the scourge of GBV.
Through HIGHER HEALTH interventions, we have achieved some of these positive outcomes:
- From an initial 100, we now have more than 6 200 individuals who reported incidents of gender-based harassment, intimate partner violence, and GBV across our campuses which is a positive sign and bodes well for “breaking the silence”.
- Fifteen (15) students per campus – volunteer to help fellow students be protected from HIV, GBV, and other medical and social challenges.
- In 2022 alone, 8 700 frontline staff were capacitated to deal with GBV on campuses.
- First-year students are encouraged to access the self-risk assessment through HIGHER HEALTH’s extra-mural Curriculum, dialogues and interventions, and use it as a checklist to identify risk factors and personal behaviors which may make them more vulnerable to the GBV epidemic.
- Over 700 000 students are linked to health, wellness, and psychosocial support and care services through the HIGHER HEALTH 24/7 tollfree crisis helpline 0800 36 36 36.
I also wish to inform you that later this month I will be launching a massive campaign to mobilise men in our PSET sector to join in our UNESCO inspired campaign for Gender Equality and Women’s Emancipation (GEWE). This will also include mobilising men in the sector in the fight against the scourge of gender based violence. You know better that anybody about the men you sentence everyday for GBV. It is becoming increasingly clear that the struggle for GEWE and against GBV shall remain in complete until men are mobilised to the part of it. I call on some of the male judges to join in this campaign!
I have also launched a one of its kind National Civic and Health Education Skills Programme which is a unique co-curriculum that aims to instil amongst the youth the values of respect and compassion for one another, community building, volunteerism and unshakeable commitment to advancing social causes, including the fight against
gender based violence. The programme will be presented in all the twelve (12) officials languages of South Africa. And this 6 months course can be accessed through your gadgets, including cell phones; and it is entirely online! That is another example of how we can also offer online education for judges!
I am looking forward to the outcomes and resolutions of this International Association of Women Judges’ 17th Annual General Meeting and Conference.
I thank you
