Business lobby group, the Black Business Council (BBC) has has expressed dismay at the law firm, Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) and AfriForum’s move to challenge the gazette of the Legal Sector Code under the Broad-Based Economic Empowerment (BBEE) Act.
The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, gazetted the code for the legal fraternity in September. It seeks to speed up transformation in the legal sector by mandating stricter compliance with equity and empowerment initiatives.
NRF, AfriForum fighting this legal code in court
However, Tau’s actions angered NRF, which in turn was supported by AfriForum to challenge why the code was gazetted by the government.
NRF decided to approach the Pretoria High Court in its bid to block the implementation of the Legal Sector Code, which is aimed at seeing an increased number of black participation in the country’s legal business.
BBC strongly condemned NRF and AfriForum over their opposition to the code. The council also represents black business and professionals in the legal sector.
BBC dismayed at the opposition to transformative code
“The Black Business Council (BBC) is dismayed but not surprised by right-wing opposition to the Legal Sector Code. Norton Rose Fulbright, AfriForum and similar anti-transformation organisations who are beneficiaries of apartheid, are taking government to court seeking to overturn a newly implemented policy aimed at the transformation of the legal sector,” said BBC CEO, Kganki Matabane.
Matabane also pointed that a legal sector code was an important intervention to transform the legal sector. This, like any other sectors in the economy, is still characterised by structural inequality inherited from apartheid.
“Economic transformation, at its heart, is about ensuring equality for black people. Opposing transformation is effectively arguing for the status quo for structural inequality to remain. Norton Rose and AfriForum’s opposition to the legal sector code should be seen in this light, and must be condemned,” he said.
White law firms monopolise lucrative specialised jobs
BBC stated that the majority of white-owned firms have a tendency of monopolising lucrative specialised legal work from the private sector, and even public sector. These acts “maintain their apartheid procurement practices”.
Matabane said: “The legal sector code’s aim is to provide access to black lawyers to such quality legal work. We urge minister Parks Tau and minister Mmamoloko Kubayi (Justice and Constitutional Development) respectively, to defend the right of black lawyers to access the same work as white law firms.”
In February last year, black lawyers’ organisations took legal action to compel the former Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition Ebrahim Patel to gazette the legal sector code. The organisations included the Black Conveyancers Association, the National Association of Democratic Lawyers, the Black Lawyers Association, and the Pan African Bar Association of South Africa.
In March last year, BBC supported black lawyers’ organisations when Patel and his department were taken to court.
Seven months down the line, Patel’s successor, Tau decided to gazette the Legal Sector Code.
BBC to support minister in court
The BBC said that it was supporting Tau and Kubayi alongside the seven black lawyers’ organisations. These include the National Association of Democratic Lawyers, Black Conveyancers Association, Black Lawyers Association, Advocates for Transformation, Pan African Bar Association of South Africa, South African Women Lawyers Association, and Basadi Ba Molao. They are supporting the ministers through their collective intervention in the NRF application and in opposing it.
AfriForum spokesperson Ernst van Zyl said: “The BBC exposes itself as a deeply racialist organisation that prefers discriminatory legislation that gives certain people special privileges based on their skin colour, rather than meritocracy. AfriForum is against any law or piece of legislation that mandates discrimination based on race. It supports meritocracy, not laws privileging people based on their skin colour.”
NRF did not respond to questions went to them last week Saturday.
