B Mabandla: South African Women in Law Indaba

5 May 2006

Programme Director,
Distinguished guests from all over the world,
Members of the Judiciary,
Cherished veterans of the struggle for democracy,
Members of the legal profession,
Members of the Steering Committee,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for the kind welcome. I hope you travelled comfortably and were
received well.

I am delighted to join you this morning and to have the honour of addressing
you at this historic event where South African women involved in the practice
of law from all of South Africa are gathered together for the first time to
dialogue about the legal profession.

Our historic gathering which takes place 73 years since the doors of legal
practice were formally opened to women lawyers constitutes a milestone in our
national struggles for justice and equality. The South African Women in Law
Steering Committee deserves to be applauded for organising this important
indaba, seizing the moment to give women lawyers a collective voice and for
initiating the long over due task of documenting our history as South African
women lawyers. I am truly honoured to be part of this important milestone in
the rebuilding of our women’s movement.

This indaba comes at an opportune time as we are reflecting on our
democracy, examining how far we have come in the pursuit of the non-racial and
non-sexist democracy that underpins our constitution. 8 May 1996, is considered
as a turning point in our country because the adoption of our supreme law, the
Constitution, provided a solid foundation for the transformation of our society
and institutions. This event takes place at a time when the legal sector has to
meet the challenge of setting standards for the entire nation and get rid of
the race and gender stereotypes.

Today we walk tall as a nation knowing that we have one of the most
progressive constitutions in the world. Indeed, one of the progressive features
of our Constitutions is the provisions that lay a foundation for non-sexism,
equality and human dignity. Those and other human rights provisions are there
because of the inputs made by women in process of designing our democracy.

In this regard I recall the selfless contribution made by stalwarts such as
our recently departed Mama Ellen Khuzwayo. We are rich today as a nation and as
women because of their contribution to the architecture of our democracy and
our concept of justice. I am proud and grateful to be part of a generation
whose task was made easier by giant footprints left by persons such as Ellen
Khuzwayo and her contemporaries such as Charlotte Maxeke, Cissie Gool,
Shulamith Muller and Lilian Ngoyi.

This brings me to another key milestone in our rich history, the
ground-breaking 1956 women’s march to the Union Building. This year we are
celebrating the 50th anniversary of the women’s march. This also call for
reflection on how far have we come in making the aspirations of women them a
reality today.

A fitting tribute to Ma Ngoyi, Hellen Joseph, Rehana Moosa, Sophie De Bruyn
and the multitudes of women who devoted their time to the collection of women’s
demands and marched to the Union Building to submit such demands would be an
end to poverty, injustice and all manifestations of sexism.

I believe surviving stalwarts such as Ma Sisulu and Mam Gxuwa, who will be
honouring us with our presence today and other pioneers who devoted their lives
to improving people’s lives would be honoured to see real change in people’s
lives including the way they experience and perceive the courts. As women
lawyers we have enormous potential to make a difference in this regard.

Indeed, this is the challenge I would like to throw to the South African
Women Lawyers Association (SAWLA) that will be launched during this indaba.
There is no doubt in my mind that there is a place in our society for a
collective voice of women lawyers.

In his address to at the launch of the South African chapter of
International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ), President Thabo Mbeki said,
“It must be that the central objective of this chapter is the attainment of the
vitally important objective of gender equality, whose achievement has to be a
defining feature of the democracy we are striving to construct.”

I believe a similar role and challenge awaits the new association with
regard to the broader legal profession.

Programme Director

The biggest challenge for SAWLA is to make itself relevant to the South
African situation. One of the factors that will determine the association’s
relevance will be its sustained ability to make a difference in the lives of
ordinary people particularly women. The association also needs to find ways
such as research, writing and lobbying to make its impact felt in national and
global policy dialogues.

This is how the women who paved the way for us made themselves and their
formations relevant. The association needs to understand that that substantive
transformation means more than merely admitting more black and women legal
practitioners and judicial officials. When we helped give birth to the IAWJ in
2004 one of the central issues was strengthening the ability of women judges to
make a difference.

Making a difference means standing for something bigger than you. This means
that while the association should work to capacitate and improve the lives of
its members and other women in the legal profession, it is important that its
agenda includes making a difference in the broader society.

In my view, the association will be taken seriously as a voice of change if
its transformation agenda transcends the demands of women lawyers. It will be
important for the association to design its programmes with a view to
consolidating the gains that the women justice and democracy pioneers made.
Accordingly, the association has to be an integral part of the women’s movement
in our country.

Something that would give me immense personal joy would be to see the
association play an important role in existing efforts aimed at improving
access to justice for all, particularly to historically disadvantaged groups
such as women, children, persons with disabilities and rural communities.

Programme Director

I am encouraged to observe that as a country we have a strong civil society
components particularly in the area of combating gender based violence and
violence against children. The contribution of civil society to our efforts
around 16 days of activism on violence against women and children has been
phenomenal.

A related effort for which I salute Deputy Minister Nomatyala Hangana, is
the current initiative aimed at developing and implementing a national action
plan to end violence against women and children. It is important that the new
association interfaces with and finds its place in such initiatives.

The association should also find its unique role that may help expand our
agenda for change and the reach of our efforts in terms of improving women and
other people’s lives. There are many areas where women lawyers can make a
difference. Some of the possible agenda items date back to the days of
Charlotte Maxeke, Sissie Gool, Ray Alexander, Francis Baard, Madelaine Wookey
and Shulamith Muller.

An area that I personally see as an important programme are for the
association is that of research and writing. Research and writing are important
instruments of influencing change. It accordingly is important for us as women
lawyers to research and write on justice, human rights and
constitutionalism.

Programme Director

I notice that the steering committee has invited international guests who
are here to share their experiences. They come from powerful women
associations, some of which have been around for more than a century. They as
professionals have contributed immensely to the success of their associations
and to the transformation of the justice system in their countries. I salute
and extend a warm welcome to all our international guests and wish them a
wonderful experience in our lovely country.

I also recognise and honour our local guests from sectors who have travelled
this road before us and who will be sharing with us their experiences and best
practices. I am referring to our guests from the Department of Public Works,
Department of Trade and Industry and the financial sector that are also here to
share their experiences in organising and sustaining an in initiative of this
nature.

It may be important for the association to maintain links with the above and
other organisations for continuous sharing of experiences and best
practices.

Programme Director

It will be an honour to witness the baby that whose birth we are not only
witnessing but facilitating, grow into a giant. My Department is very honoured
to play mid wife to such an important addition to the South African women’s
movement. The challenge ahead for our part as government is to nurture the baby
without smothering it.

This is particularly important because the association must foster rather
than undermine an independent and strong legal profession. It must accordingly
maintain an independent identity and be able to challenge and encourage
government and other key players in the legal system to transform. This is
necessary if the association is to make a difference in advancing human rights
and enhance responsiveness to the justice needs of women and other justice
seekers.

I wish you well in your deliberations over the next two days. I look forward
to studying your agenda for change as captured in the conference statement and
programme of action that you plan to adopt at the end of this conference.
Lastly, on behalf of my Department, I pledge to give you full support.

I thank you

Issued by: Ministry of Justice
5 May 2005