Desai’s allegations unfounded, says Bar Council

According to a Cape Argus report, Bar Council chairman Ashwin Schippers said that accusations by Desai that the Bar Council\'s role was to ‘specifically nominate ... backward white male candidates’ for appointment to the Bench was unfounded. It ignores the simple fact that the Bar Council may only nominate persons for judicial appointment who have made themselves available for such appointment. Up to now, and despite requests by the Bar Council to senior black members at the Bar to make themselves available for an appointment to the Cape Bench, none have been prepared to do so’. It was suggested that the Cape Bar Council had an agenda not to nominate a person of colour for a permanent position to the Cape Bench, but this was factually incorrect, Schippers said. Full Cape Argus report

The Judicial Service Commission says allegations affecting Hlophe, are being dealt with ‘as a matter of urgency’ by the Heads of Court. ‘The JSC is awaiting the outcome of the investigation by the Heads of Court. It is not yet known when their decision will be made,’ the JSC said yesterday, according to a report in The Witness. One member of the JSC told the paper he believed that the sensitive racial matters would be dealt with fittingly by Chief Justice Pius Langa who, as opposed to his predecessor Arthur Chaskalson, did not have the added burden of having to compensate for being white. Full report in The Witness Full report in The Witness

Meanwhile, the Black Lawyers Association has prohibited its regional branches from commenting on the race row. The BLA in the Western Cape has also called for Norman Arendse, chairperson of the General Council of the Bar (GCB), to resign from his position, says an SABC News report. This decision follows the provincial association\'s general meeting. The BLA says Arendse erred by going public with a private conversation he had with Hlophe. Arendse has declared the call unfair, saying it is based solely on media reports, some of which he refutes. Mvuseni Ngubane, president of the BLA, however, says there is merit in the call. Babalwa Mantane, of the BLA\'s Western Cape branch, says Arendse undermined the dignity of the judiciary and as such is not fit to lead the advocates\' profession. Full SABC News report

Racism has been uncovered in KZN, too, but despite recommendations on how to address the problems at the offices of the Pietermaritzburg Director of Public Prosecutions, nothing has been done. A member of the Serurubele Team, a transformation programme of the National Prosecuting Authority, undertook a probe into allegations of racism at the Pietermaritzburg High Court during May and released her findings on May 25, says a report in The Witness. According to one of the staff, they received the report in September after they made inquiries to the DPP, but so far nothing has been done. The report found that ‘tensions and simmering dissatisfaction’ are almost tangible when walking through the high court offices. ‘However, it is difficult at face value to pinpoint the exact source of the disgruntlement that has seemingly festered into the office\'s current culture,’ said the report. Sources at the Pietermaritzburg High Court told the paper the racial tensions mentioned in the report have somewhat decreased since the report was filed. One commented: ‘People are more cautious about what they say now. I do not believe that it has gone away, they just hide it better.’ Full report in The Witness