(Previously in Transform SA Edition 34)
It is often said the “the wheels of justice turn slowly but grind exceedingly fine.” But what happens when the justice system itself is battling to achieve the kind of change that is essential for the achievement of constitutional imperatives such as the promotion of access to justice.
The Department of Justice (“Department“) has, since the dawn of democracy, undertaken to take strides in transforming the legal sector. The Justice Vision 2000 document envisioned a new system of justice for South Africa. There was, at that stage, a realisation that the new administration had inherited a legal system that was designed to implement colonial and apartheid policies.
In Justice Vision 2000 it was recognised that the legal profession has to be transformed in order to be able to respond appropriately to the needs of all the people of South Africa and it was stated that the Department would be giving attention to such transformation. In so doing, one of the key result areas that the Department would focus on was a “well-trained, broadly representative, accessible and evenly distributed legal profession“.
The focus on a broadly representative judiciary was recently in the spotlight during the recent judicial services commission interviews for superior courts as there is continued realisation that the objectives of transformation within the legal profession remain to be achieved.
This realisation is one of the reasons I took a decision to qualify as a conveyance of the High Court of South Africa. The property industry is one which is falling behind in the journey of transformation. One of the best ways to address this lag, is for young legal professionals to enhance their own training and step into spaces which were not previously as broadly representative of the South African population.
I am very passionate about inspiring young people, and more specifically young women to rise above the challenges that are inevitably faced by the South African youth. In August 2022, I attended the National Youth Development Agency’s Executive Chairpersons “Women of Firsts” High Tea; which was an initiative of the Office of the Executive Chairperson aimed at cultivating a diverse pool of influence and leverage representation across various sectors in order to address socio-economic challenges faced by the South African youth, particularly women. At this event, we pledged our time and resources to the emancipation of young women in our respective sectors.
In the same vein, I participated at the Johannesburg Junior Council’s Women’s Day event which was an outstanding opportunity to speak to young women who want to grow and make an impact in the world they live in and leave it better than they found it. Another platform that has been helpful in my quest to reaching young people is the mentorship program under the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges.
The Department may have a mandate to foster transformation within the legal profession, However, it remains imperative that legal professionals themselves take active steps to ensure that the demographics of the country are well represented within the profession in order to ensure an adequate response to the needs of the people and promote equal access to justice.
Nomlayo Mabhena-Mlilo
