Program Director Judge Soma Naidoo
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng
President of SA Chapter of International Association of Women Judges, Judge
Baratang Connie Mocumie
Judge President Dunstan Mlambo
Judge Tshfhiwa Maumela
Vice Chancellor, Prof Cheryl de la Rey
Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof Andre Boraine
Chairperson of SALDA, Prof Vivienne Lawack
Judges and Magistrates present
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen.
I am deeply honoured to have been invited to address this august occasion to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges which takes place on the eve of national Women’s day.
It is also a gracious coincidence that this year we commemorate 60th Anniversary of the Women’s Charter of 1954. This gives this body an opportunity to reflect on the commitment of the women of the class of 1950’s who declared in the Preamble of the Charter adopted on 17 April 1954 as follows:
“We, the women of South Africa, wives and mothers, working women and housewives, Africans, Indians, Europeans and Coloureds, hereby declare our aim of striving for the removal of all laws, conventions and customs that discriminate against women, and that deprive us in any way of our inherent right to the advantages, responsibilities and opportunities that society offers to any one section of the population”.
Their resilience culminated in the historic march to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 to demand an end to the pass laws and their persecution. It was during this historic march that the courageous women proclaimed in one voice that “Wathint’abafazi wathinta imbokodo” (“You strike a woman you strike a rock”).
It is therefore fitting that today, in our 20th year of constitutional democracy; we continue to strive for equality and justice for all. As judicial officers, we need the courage and resilience of the women of the calibre of Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophie Williams, amongst others, to fight a different struggle: of reversing the legacy of inequality and deprivation, overcoming poverty and landlessness and uprooting crime and corruption.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our gender transformation championed by our exemplary Constitution is amplified by international and regional instruments and conventions which we have ratified as a country. Among these instruments, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is the most significant. CEDAW which was ratified by Parliament on 15 December 1995 is often referred to as “Bill of Rights” for women, because it constitutes a comprehensive statement of the rights of women to equality with men in many areas.
In the South African context, the Judiciary has an important role in ensuring that our evolving jurisprudence is geared towards giving effect to the intentions and aspirations espoused in our Constitution and the international instruments. This is an area where I would imagine that an institution such as SAWLA would find its niche – through ensuring that the courts make decisive injunctions to remove persistent gender prejudices and stereotypes that undermine the right to equality.
The National Development Plan Vision 2030 expressly acknowledges this fact as it lists, among the qualities and attributes of an ideal South African judge, a progressive judicial philosophy and an understanding of the socio-economic context in which the law is interpreted. I am sure that as an institution that advocates gender mainstreaming, it will strive to influence structures such as the South African Judicial Education Institute and the Judicial Services Commission which are assigned the tasks of recruiting and training judges.
In its scope, the transformation of the judicial system entails a broader concept of reform, which includes the reorganisation and the rationalisation of the courts to align them with the Constitution, the transformation of the legal profession, the reform of the state legal services and initiatives to improve the criminal and the civil areas of our justice system. The Judicial system will be impoverished if the members of this august body and women in general do not make their voice heard in the transformation discourse.
Following recent elections, parliament boasts 45 percent women representation, an increase from about 42 percent in 2009. This ranks South Africa third in the world in terms of representation of women in Parliament. With regard to the Judiciary, our statistics currently show that in our 20 years of democracy 311 new judges were appointed. Of these, only 76 are women. The situation is more acute at the Supreme Court of Appeal where out of 25 judges only seven are women while the Constitutional Court has two women judges in its 11 member panel. Regarding racial demographics we boast 155 Black judges, inclusive of Black women, out of 243 judges. This is against a backdrop of only 1 Black judge in 1994. The limited number of women who advance to the bench is attributed to the low number of female legal practitioners in comparison to their male counterparts. As at the end of 2013, women made 1841 of the total number of 5708 practicing advocates on the roll of advocates. During the same time there were less than 6 000 practicing female attorneys out of a total of 22, 500.
Therefore special attention is required to create opportunities for aspirant judges and lawyers to pursue a career in the legal sector. The Legal Practice Bill and the State Attorney Amendment Bill which are currently being considered by the President are intended to level the playing field. The Legal Practice Bill in particular, aims to remove barriers to the practice of law for previously disadvantaged individuals and thus widen the pool of layers both in the bar and side bar. On the other hand the State Attorneys Amendment Bill will institutionalise the preferential allocation of State legal work to female and other previously disadvantaged practitioners. We are optimistic that the 75% target we have set for ourselves for the briefing of previously disadvantaged practitioners will widen the pool from which judges may be appointed.
Distinguished guests,
It is also encouraging that judges are increasingly being appointed from the ranks of magistrates. This affirms the Government’s commitment to a unified judiciary that subscribes to uniform norms and standards that are aimed at guaranteeing judicial independence and the rule of law. This calls for the Magistrates Commission to be more vigilant in its recruitment process as it lays a foundation for future judges. This fits with the theme of today’s conference “Reshaping women’s participation for gender equality in the South African Judiciary”.
I wish to reaffirm our commitment, as the Ministry and the department, to an unequivocal support to the on-going reforms that are aimed at safeguarding the independence of the judiciary and to provide an enabling environment for the judiciary to execute its constitutional mandate. The Constitution Seventeenth Amendment Act of 2012 and the Superior Courts Act of 2013 which my predecessor and colleague, Dr Radebe championed impeccably with the support of the Chief Justice and his leadership, provide a clear path to the future. As we hinted during the Parliamentary budget vote debate recently, we will accelerate outstanding reform processes including the legislation that transforms the Magistrates Courts in the same way as the Superior Courts Act and establish an independent court administration system.
As I close, it will be remiss of me if I do not acknowledge the indelible contribution that the judiciary continue to make in dispensing justice to all people of this country under very trying circumstances. The Superior Courts, guided by our able Constitutional Court, continue to shape our constitutional jurisprudence. In many landmark judgments that shape our destiny the voice of a woman, whether as a judge, legal representative, one of the parties to a suit is always audible. Similarly, Magistrates Courts, which deal with volumes of cases daily give meaning to the values of access to justice espoused in the Constitution and this is because of the sacrifices of many people who ensure that justice is not only done, but manifestly seen to be done.
Distinguished guests
Today there are no laws that exclude women from any career pursuit or life opportunities in the legal profession or elsewhere. My appeal to all women in the legal sorority is that, do not drop the ball when appointed to the bench but strive to excel so as to quell the perception that at times, as a country we promote mediocrity thus compromising quality of service to our people. This criticism must not find a place in our noble profession. I must also implore delegates to make meaningful contributions during deliberations so that these sessions do not become calendar events with no concrete resolutions on how to reshape women’s participation for gender equality.
It gives me pride to observe lady judges distinguishing themselves on the bench with confidence and skill that is a source of marvel for many thus rebutting negative perceptions about women’s capability. The world is watching with enthusiasm the meticulous way in which Judge Masipa is conducting proceedings in the Pistorious trial which brought global scrutiny to our justice system.
You know the advantage of being addressed by a Minister who is a lawyer is that, unlike other politicians, he is guaranteed to be as brief as a lawyer whose client has run out of funds.
I thank you.
