May 07, 2007, 20:45
There was still a long way to go in transforming the judicial system of South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki said today. Speaking in Johannesburg at the opening of Pitjie Chambers, Mbeki said government would work together with the legal profession and society in speeding up the transformation of the judicial system.
"Despite the ongoing transformation processes instituted by government and the legal profession, we still have a long way to go essentially to overcome the huge gap, in equalities, gender and racial prejudices which are a legacy of our unfortunate apartheid past," he said.
He said the biggest challenges facing the judicial system were the backlog of cases coming before the courts, and the general transformation of both the bench and the bar.
"These are matters that we need to address together so that the legal profession of our country becomes an even stronger component of the catalyst for change."
Mbeki said he was pleased that the bench had transformed from an all-white, male dominated bench to a bench that represented the racial demographics of the country.
The new law chambers which are named after the late lawyer and former anti-apartheid activist Godfrey Pitjie are the brain child of advocate Ishmail Semenya, SC, and Andre Bezuidenhout of the Johannesburg association of advocates. - Sapa
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