Black voluntary legal organisations launch legal action to compel Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr. Ebrahim Patel to gazette the BEE Legal Sector Code
29 February 2024
Today, 29 February 2024 - four voluntary organisations dedicated to promoting transformation within the legal profession, launched legal proceedings in the North Gauteng High Court against the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr. Ebrahim Patel, due to his failure to gazette the B-BBEE Legal Sector Code. The Minister has consistently frustrated the process of finalising the LSC since 2021.
The following organisations are applicants in the case.
- The National Association of Democratic Lawyers Association (NADEL),
- The Black Conveyancers Association (BCA),
- The Pan African Bar Association of SA (PABASA),
- The Black Lawyers Association (BLA)
Inequality in the legal profession remains a major problem. One of the most significant indicators of this inequality is the fact that major commercial and corporate instructions are monopolised by large, majority white owned firms. In contrast, black legal practitioners continue to suffer discrimination, in particular in relation to procurement practices.
The white dominated private sector by and large refuse to give work to Black practitioners no matter how competent or hard working they are. In this way they continue apartheid procurement practices.
While some state institutions such as the state attorneys’ offices actively try to break this pattern by briefing mainly black advocates, many state organs especially SOEs, brief white law firms mainly. In this way black practitioners are prevented from meaningfully participating in the economy as envisaged in the Constitution.
A robust legislative intervention is therefore necessary to give effect to the Constitution and the provisions of the B-BBEE Act. The legal sector code is such an intervention and is vital to ensure that black legal practitioners enjoy the equality the Constitution promises.
The legal sector code was submitted for gazetting to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services who approved it and forwarded it to the Minister Patel on 10 October 2023. The Minister is obliged to gazette the legal sector code as all prescribed processes have been complied with. He has however ignored all correspondence from the organisations enquiring when he would gazette the legal sector code.
Minister Patel’s failure to gazette the legal sector code is both unreasonable and unlawful.
Whether this failure is due to negligence or opposition to transformation by him, the effect is the same -namely that black practitioners continue to suffer and remain deprived of a sustainable flow of quality legal work. That he serves in a portfolio whose core function is to promote B-BBEE is even more shameful. If he is opposed to B-BBEE, he should do the honourable thing and resign from this Ministry.
The organisations will not stand by and allow him to frustrate the efforts by black legal practitioners to seek equality.
The applicants will be represented in this court application by advocates Muzi Sikhakhane SC, Makhosi Gwala SC and Lunga Siya instructed by Tando Ngeno of Ngeno and Mteto Inc.
Issued by BCA, 29 February 2024
