Address by Minister Ronald Lamola (MP) at the National Policy Conference & Annual General Meeting held at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park on the 20th of October 2023
President of the Supreme Court of Appeal Justice Molemela
The Honourable Justice Aubrey Ledwaba: Deputy Judge President of the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division sitting in Pretoria.
Her Excellency Mairin Merida: Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
His Excellency Enrique Orta González Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba
Ms Matshego Ramagaga: Vice President of the Law Society of South Africa
Ms Peppy Kekana: Chairperson of the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund
Advocate Bayethe Maswazi: President of the Black Lawyers Association
Our Gracious Host, Mr Mvuzo Notyesi President of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers
It is great honour for me to form part of this historic gathering in the life of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers. To show the seriousness with wich government value your contribution the President has approved my request not to attend the Presidential Imbizo today in Tlokwe.
NADEL has played a key role in the struggle for democracy in South Africa. You’ve also been a catalyst in the enactment of the Legal Practice Act.
The legal practice Act in its preamble state the following that this law is enacted to:
- provide a legislative framework for the transformation and restructuring of the legal profession into a profession which is broadly representative of the Republic’s demographics under a single regulatory body;
- ensure that the values underpinning the Constitution are embraced and that the rule of law is upheld;
- ensure that legal services are accessible;
- regulate the legal profession, in the public interest, by means of a single statute;
- remove any unnecessary or artificial barriers for entry into the legal profession;
- strengthen the independence of the legal profession; and
- ensure the accountability of the legal profession to the public.
The question that arise in the context of the topic regression of democratic gains is a a sign of state collapse is wether we’ve lived up to the object of this Act? This is for government, legal practitioners and society as a whole.
For me to answer this question I’ll have to take stalk of the road traveled in the prosecution of the National Democratic Revolution since the democratic breakthrough in 1994.
I want to acknowledge upfront the challenges we face in the provision of water, electricity, the challenges of crime a stagnant economy, joblessness. The role played by COVID-19 in the devastation of the economy cannot be underestimated, the July unrest, load shedding and the natural disasters in KZN and the EC.
Despite all this challenges the recently released census survey has proven that we’re a resilient nation.
We now have objective information from Statistics South Africa’s Census Report that there has been significant gains since 1994.
The latest population and household count in South Africa since the end of apartheid paints a picture of remarkable progress over the past 29 years.
The Census 2022 results reveal that South Africa is moving closer towards creating an inclusive society, redressing historical imbalances, and improving access to services for the majority.
For those who lived under apartheid and remember its devastating impact, this is a momentous step forward.
It's important to note that South Africa's development has been intentional and systematic, with well-designed developmental programs implemented since 1994.
This progress is impressive, particularly in areas related to education, clean water, electricity, sanitation, and refuse removal.
The introduction of no-fee schools, Early Childhood Development, and school nutrition programs have had a positive impact on enrolment and improved functional literacy and secondary school outcomes.
The Census 2022 shows that 82.4% of households now have access to piped water inside their dwelling or yard, and 70.8% of people have access to a flush toilet.
Moreover, the percentage of households with access to electricity for lighting has increased from 58.1% in 1996 to 94.7% in 2022.
The number of households has almost doubled, from approximately 9.1 million in 1996 to 17.8 million in 2022, and the percentage of people living in formal dwellings has increased from 65.1% in 1996 to 88.5% in 2022.
These impressive improvements demonstrate that South Africa is on the right track and that the developmental programs that have been implemented over the past few decades are working.
However, these improvements also pose significant challenges to service delivery and essential infrastructure capacity.
The Census 2022 results make it clear that the future of South Africa is bright, but there is still a long way to go. With the right investments, policies and implementation, we can create a more equitable and just society for all South Africans.
I guess this is what NADEL wanted us to interrogate when you gave me the topic, has our implementation achieved the intended results?
Let’s look closer to home.
In 1994 there were 165 judges, 160 were white men three were black men two were white women. As you can glean from that there were black women judges in 1994.
Today we have 249 judges in active service, 93 are black males , 84 are black women 45 are white males and 31 white women judges. We also have five black women in the leadership of the Judiciary, a Deputy Chief Justice, the President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, two Judge Presidents in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga respectively, four Deputy Judges Presidents in Limpopo, Northern Cape, Free State and the Western Cape.
Let’s turn to magistrates, 1994 Magistates were civil servants not judicial officers, today they are judicial officers with a credible appointment process in the form the magistates commission.
Out of the 1652 Magistrates in South Africa, 52 percent are female, 74 percent are black.
These are self-evident gains we must advance even further as aspire to achieve the objectives of the Constitution.
Coming to the legal practice, the enactment of the Legal Practice Act, 28 of 2014 is no minor fit. When we laboured under the Apartheid, our legal frontrunners, pioneers such as HM Pitje, Advocate Duma Nokwe and many others, were confronted with not only systematic obstacles, but were restricted in their practice of the profession by the rubric of legislation from exceling. Thus, the LPA aims to create the necessary ghasm from the past. It is the apposite legislative framework that is the bed-rock of transformation.
The LPA established the Legal Practice Council, to become the country’s sole and ultimate statutory body to regulate the affairs and conduct of legal practitioners, and to set the relevant norms and standards.
Today, more and more young Black aspirant lawyers continue to enter the legal uninhibited by the legal rigours, but can rely opn their own insipirations to enter the practice.
This was part of vision 2000 published by former Minister Dullar Omar.
Even the attainment of Senior status for legal practitioners. During September 2023, my office received over 70 applications for conferment of the SC status. These applications are currently under consideration and the relevant verifications of both practitioner status and other suitability criteria are being assessed by the Department.
Chairperson, on 4 September 2023, and after consulting the LPC, I signed a set of draft Guidelines for consideration by the President as he exercises his powers and prerogative when considering the granting of Silk status.
The draft Guidelines are currently being considered by the legal services unit in the Presidency, and soon, the country will have certainty about the process of allocation of senior status for legal practitioners. In brief, distinct from the past, we propose that even attorneys qualify for honours which is approved, will be conferred as “Senior Legal Practitioner” . This is also a product of consultation with the profession.
I have committed elsewhere to honour one of our own, Advocate Duma Nokwe, who suffered immensely under Apartheid. It is appropriate that Nadel support this quest to honour Duma Nokwe as a Silk post-humuosly.
Now the second assumption the topic Nadel requires to address is the notion that the State is collapsing.
One of the questions I had to answer as I prepared for this address is whether a failed state and a collapsed state is the same thing?
Unfortunately I could not find the definition of a collapse state in literature, what I’ve found is a failed state.
One finds that in the 1990s, the term "failed state" entered the political discourse in the United States. It was first used to describe the tumultuous situation in Somalia after the 1991 coup that ousted the dictator Siad Barre from power.
The country was plunged into chaos as different clans battled for supremacy, leading to anarchy and widespread violence.
This led to the infamous Battle of Mogadishu, which saw American troops engage in a disastrous conflict with Somali militias. The concept of "failed states" gained even more prominence after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as countries like Afghanistan were seen as potential breeding grounds for terrorism that could threaten the security of the US and its allies.
To quote from a Financial Mail article published on the 20th of April this year, “the definition of a failed state is a mirage, a US creation in the post-Iraq War era that’s used to describe countries which disregard the interests of the superpower.”
“the reason people here latch on to the failed state thing is that it feeds into their anxiety that, to put it bluntly, if you put black people in charge it will end badly.” That’s the view of Prof Steven Friedman, director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at the University of Johannesburg and Rhodes University.
I doubt that organisation like NADEL has this type of anxiety.
Now equally scholars of international development studies have noted that “there is a tendency to label a “poorly performing” state as “failed” – a tendency we reject not”.
I want to argue that in our case we have our challenges as a nation but all arms of our constitutional democracy have not collapsed for us to conclude that we’re a failed state.
Despite facing daunting obstacles, the South African government has upheld the rule of law.
The judiciary has remained steadfastly independent and effective, ensuring that justice is served equally.
The executive branch has persevered through tough times, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the July unrest, and natural disasters in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Despite a politically divided atmosphere, Parliament has continued to operate and make vital decisions.
Just yesterday, the elections for the Public Protector were held.
Parliament is able to pass budgets for the state to operate. While these may seem like routine tasks, they are not easy to accomplish in some coalitions run municipalities and other countries where the process can take months or even years, Or even just the election of a Speaker of legislative can have the effect of grinding the work of such an important branch of the state to a halt.
Distinguished Guest
State attorney’s
As Government, the State Attorneys have set targets for briefs given to women advocates.
We have three targets when it comes to measuring briefing patterns.
For the 2022/23 financial year we had set a target of 83% of the value of briefs to be allocated to PDI Legal Practitioners – we achieved 86%.
We set a target of 40% of briefs to be allocated to female legal practitioners and we achieved 42% and we set a target of 30% of the value of the briefs allocated to female legal practitioners and achieved 30%.
As you may be aware, details of the number of briefs given per month are set out on our departmental website. What we need to do is to encourage the private sector to follow suit when it comes to briefing.
The reason why we missed a clean audit was for the manner in which we procure legal services on behalf the state. To quote the Auditor-General “Majority relates to prior non-compliance by Office of State Attorney not obtaining three quotations.”
We have now put in place a system to deal with this by implementing the Policy on Briefing and Outsourcing of State Legal Work. The Policy on Briefing and Outsourcing of State Legal Work is in full effect and continues to guide the allocation of State Legal Services.
This policy underscores our commitment to addressing historical imbalances, ensuring transparency, and controlling legal costs.
Ladies and gentlemen we all know that legal services are unique services consumed by the state .This has put the department of Justice in a deficult position to comply with the Treasury regulations in the acquiring of legal services.
As a result of the department’s failure to comply with the three quotation system, the department has been receiving qualified audit opinion since 20116/17 with the AG stating the following in its audit finding yearly .
The department of Justice obtained an unqualified audit opinion for the first time since 2018 in the year 2022 . Amongst others this has been due to the state attorney’s strict implementation of the three quotation rule as required by the National Treasury regulations.
It has become apparent to us that the only solution we’ve to resolve the challenges with the Auditor General is to create an open and transparent panel of Advocates and Attorney’s in the office of the state attorney. This will help us with compliance with the Procurement laws and the profession will not be required to file documents every time there is a brief.
Masters offices
We’re on course to digitise the the masters services and we’ve started with the online services for deceased estates, we’ve collaborated with First National Bank in this regard and they’ve provided us their probono services, this will be extended to all the masters services.
We will soon convene all the stakeholders for the masters services for you to provide with suggestions on the challenges the masters offices is facing, we will also request you to extend your probono services to the masters offices countrywide and we will soon announce the mechanisms for you to do it.
On the basis on the scientific assessment by stats SA in 2023 and the compctum of issues I’ve raised today I conclude that weve not regressed but making progress in the prosecution of the NDR. We’ve to confront challenges as and when they arise, like load shedding we’re confronting heads on, the level of loadsheding will have significantly reduced by end of December 2023.
Palestine
In that same vein, I am certain that this forum, has taken note of the unspeakable atrocities which are being meted out against the people of Palestine.
Former President Mandela in his speech in 1997 reminded us what not to do when he said:
“The temptation in our situation is to speak in muffled tones about an issue such as the right of the people of Palestine to a state of their own. We can easily be enticed to read reconciliation and fairness as meaning parity between justice and injustice. Having achieved our own freedom, we can fall into the trap of washing our hands of difficulties that others faces.
Yet we would be less than human if we did so.
It behoves all South Africans, themselves erstwhile beneficiaries of generous international support, to stand up and be counted among those contributing actively to the cause of freedom and justice.”
International law, needs to be enforced in the Israel Palestinian conflict.
It is essential to denounce any violent actions committed by either party.
The oppressive nature of Israel's occupation has created a divisive environment, depriving the Palestinian people of their right to self-determination.
To achieve peace and justice for all parties involved, we must prioritise human rights, including the inalienable right to self-determination. This requires a dismantling of Israel's settler-colonial occupation and an end to its apartheid practices.
We also condemn the unconstitutional taking over of power our continent, Since 2020, there have been nine coups in West Africa, Central Africa and the Sahel region. No society can advance through the barrel of gun. It is only the will of the people that propels a nation forward.
Our challenges should not detain us it is the solutions to our problems as and when we confront that should usher in transformative change.
Thank you for your attention.
