Entries by LSSA

Law Society calls for respect and dignity during service delivery protests

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The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) has viewed the criminal violence that has occurred during and after the recent service delivery protests in Galeshewe, Kimberley and Khayelitsha, Cape Town with extremely grave concern. Similar protests have occurred in other places around South Africa.

‘The LSSA supports the rights of citizens and inhabitants of South Africa to protest peacefully. We also recognise that the majority of service delivery protests are, in fact, not violent. However, the LSSA considers the random looting of shops and the burning of public and private buildings a grave injustice to all people, and a serious breach of the rule of law,’ say LSSA Co-Chairpersons Mvuzo Notyesi and Ettienne Barnard.

They add: ‘The LSSA urges all people to protest peacefully and with dignity; that includes respect for the rule of law and respect for others’ lives and property, and not to take the law into their own hands. In addition, the LSSA calls on Government to take urgent steps to ensure that citizens and their property are properly protected during protest action.’

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE CO-CHAIRPERSONS OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA, MVUZO NOTYESI AND ETTIENNE BARNARD
Contact:
Ros Elphick – ros@LSSA.org.za Tel: (012) 366 8800 or 083 655 7163
Mapula Sedutla – mapula@derebus.org.za Tel: (012) 366 8800


Editor’s note:

The Law Society of South Africa brings together its six constituent members – the Cape Law Society, the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society, the Law Society of the Free State, the Law Society of the Northern Provinces, the Black Lawyers Association and the National Association of Democratic Lawyers – in representing South Africa’s 25 200 attorneys and 5 700 candidate attorneys.

 

Law Society of South Africa press release: Law Society triumphant in Proxi Smart matter

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The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) welcomes the judgment delivered on 16 May 2018 at the Gauteng Division of the High Court in the matter Proxi Smart Services (Pty) Limited vs the Law Society of South Africa and Others.

The applicant applied for declaratory relief concerning the lawfulness of its business model for performing the administrative and related services pertaining to property transfers that it contended was not by law reserved to conveyancers or legal practitioners.

The court held that the applicant has not made out a case for the relief it sought and dismissed the application with cost.

‘Proxi Smart Services wanted to render certain ‘non-reserved’ or ‘administrative’ conveyancing-related services. The LSSA contended that Proxi Smart’s attempt at creating a distinction between ‘reserved work’ and ‘non-reserved work’ had no basis in law, and that the full conveyancing process is regarded as professional work performed by conveyancers – who are regulated by the statutory, provincial law societies. This should remain so in the interest of the public’, say LSSA Co-Chairpersons Ettienne Barnard and Mvuzo Notyesi.

The matter was first heard in the High Court: Gauteng on 6 and 7 February 2018 where judgment was reserved.
‘This judgement reaffirms the specialised skill involved in the conveyancing process’, added Mr Notyesi and Mr Barnard.
The other thirteen respondents in the matter were the Chief Registrar of Deeds; Roger Dixon; the Justice Minister; the Attorneys Fidelity Fund; the four statutory provincial law societies; the National Association of Democratic Lawyers; the Back Lawyers Association; the Black Conveyancers Association; the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform and the National Forum on the Legal Profession.

The LSSA was represented by Advocate Ish Semenya SC and Advocate Allen Liversage SC, instructed by Maponya Attorneys.
View all the Proxi Smart matter documents on the LSSA website: https://www.lssa.org.za/about-us/matters/proxismart-services-pty-ltd

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE CO-CHAIRPERSONS OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA, ETTIENNE BARNARD AND MVUZO NOTYESI
by the Law Society of South Africa Communication Department LSSA@LSSA.org.za    Tel: (012) 366 8800

Law Society welcomes SADC Tribunal judgment by Gauteng High Court; urges Presidency to take action

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The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) welcomes yesterday’s judgment  by the Gauteng High Court: Pretoria relating to the SADC Tribunal.

The court declared that the President’s decision to sign the 2014 SADC Protocol, suspending the right of the citizens of this country to take disputes to the SADC Tribunal, was declared to be unlawful, irrational and thus unconstitutional.

‘Pending confirmation by the Constitutional Court, this judgment is a victory for all South Africans, and we hope it will be so for all SADC citizens,’ say LSSA Co-Chairpersons Walid Brown and David Bekker. They add; ‘As we said when we instituted the case against the President and the Ministers of Justice and International Relations in 2015, by signing the 2014 SADC Protocol, the President infringed the right of South Africans by agreeing to limit the jurisdiction of the SADC Tribunal to disputes only between member states – and no longer between individual citizens and states, without consultation.’

The Co-Chairperson note: ‘As the court has said, by signing the Protocol, the President “severely undermined the crucial SADC institution, the Tribunal. It detracted from SADC’s own stature and institutional accountability and violated the SADC Treaty itself”. The court also added that the President had no authority to participate in a decision in conflict with South Africa’s binding obligations and that if the intention was to withdraw from South Africa’s obligations under the Treaty and the Protocol, the consent of Parliament would have to be obtained first. The President’s failure to do so is unlawful and irrational.’

‘The LSSA urges The Presidency to note the judgment and rectify this unlawful and irrational action, once the judgment is confirmed by the Constitutional Court,’ say Mr Brown and Mr Bekker.

The LSSA thanks its legal team, Adv Dumisa Ntsebeza SC and Adv Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, as well as Pretoria law firm Mothle Jooma Sabdia Inc – the latter acted pro bono for the LSSA in this matter.

Download the judgment here.

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE CO-CHAIRPERSONS OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA, WALID BROWN AND DAVID BEKKER
by the Law Society of South Africa Communication Department
Contact: Barbara Whittle, Communication Manager, barbara@LSSA.org.za (012) 366 8800 or 083 380 1307
Nomfundo Manyathi-Jele, Communications Officer, nomfundom@LSSA.org.za Tel: (012) 366 8800 or 072 402 6344.