GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE BAR OF SOUTH AFRICA
The General Council of the Bar of South Africa ("GCB") held its 67th annual general meeting at the Elangeni Hotel in Durban on Friday, 20th and Saturday, 21st July 2012.
The Sydney and Felicia Kentridge Award for Service to Law in Southern Africa was awarded to the former Chief Justice Sandile Ncgobo by the GCB at a gala dinner on the Friday evening. The award is presented annually to a person who has made an exceptional contribution to the development of the law in Southern Africa. The former Chief Justice needs no introduction and his legendary service is a matter of public record. The Chief Justice Mogoeng addressed the guests at the dinner.
At the conclusion of the annual general meeting Ishmael Semenya SC was elected as chairman for 2012/13 with the following members of his executive: Izak Smuts SC (deputy chairman), McCaps Motimele SC (vice chairman), Anthea Platt (honorary secretary), Johanni Barnardt (assistant honorary secretary), Tayob Aboobaker SC, Andrea Gabriel SC, Kgomotso Moroka SC, Jeremy Muller SC, Craig Watt-Pringle SC, Gerrit Pretorius SC (ex officio as past chair), Archie Findlay SC (ex officio as convenor of the National Bar Examination Board) and Mbuyiseli Madlanga SC (ex officio as the GCB's representative on the Judicial Service Commission (who serves with Izak Smuts SC as the GCB's other representative)).
It is also important to record that at the annual general meeting a resolution was adopted in terms of which the advocates' profession expressed its support for parts of the Bill in principle. The GCB:
1.1 Noted the introduction of the Legal Practice Bill ("the Bill") which, inter alia, seeks legitimately to address the following issues: