Speaker slated over use of white advocates

National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete has come under fire for appointing costly white male advocates to act on Parliament's behalf at a time when efforts are being made to transform the legal profession and when only last week the new Finance Minister urged state bodies to try to make cost savings, notes Legalbrief. The issue is taken up in Rapport which notes Nhlanhla Nene's call – made in his Budget speech last week – has been lost on Parliament, which is not sparing any expense as it seeks to win important legal battles, such as the two cases scheduled in the Western Cape High Court this week. The decision to use Jeremy Gauntlett SC to fight cases brought by the DA and Sanef is also under fire from a transformation perspective. And in January, notes Rapport, Parliament instructed Wim Trengove SC to oppose the Constitutional Court case brought by My Vote Counts. Andrew Breitenbach, another senior advocate, is reportedly acting for Mbete in the challenge by Agang-SA on her fitness to hold office. Dumisa Ntsebeza SC, chair of Advocates for Transformation, noted the Chief Justice regularly calls on the state to assist transformation by briefing black advocates, but Parliament was ignoring these calls. 'You find that when you ask certain state attorneys why they don't brief black advocates, they'll say: "We want people who will win the cases",' Ntsebeza is quoted as saying. He added it was 'unbelievable that the highest authority figure in the legislature apparently thinks the only way to win cases is to appoint white advocates. And this is not a reflection on Gauntlett or Trengove. They're my colleagues.' Former JSC member and attorney Krish Govender said it was government policy to use 'previously disadvantaged advocates', but there aren't enough senior black lawyers to pull from. Govender also said the Speaker had a duty to promote transformation. Busani Mabunda, of the Black Lawyers Association, said there was a clear tendency by government and Parliament to prefer white advocates and this was unacceptable.

Full report in Rapport

See also a City Press report