The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) welcomes the decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa to withdraw South Africa’s signature from the 2014 Protocol on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal in compliance with the Constitutional Court ruling.

In March 2015, in Law Society of South Africa and Others v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others, the LSSA launched an application in the High Court to declare the actions of former President Jacob Zuma as well as the Ministers of Justice and International Relations and Cooperation in voting for, signing and planning to ratify the SADC Summit Protocol in 2014 as it related to the SADC Tribunal, to be unconstitutional.

The 2014 Protocol deprived citizens in the SADC region – including South Africans – of the right to refer a dispute between citizens and their government to a regional court if they failed to find relief in their own courts. By signing the 2014 Protocol, former President Zuma infringed the right of South African citizens to access justice in terms of our Bill of Rights. The 2014 Protocol limited the jurisdiction of the SADC Tribunal to disputes only between member states – and no longer between individual citizens and the SADC member states – in the SADC region.

In March 2018 the Gauteng High Court: Pretoria, declared the President’s participation in the suspension of the operations of the SADC Tribunal and his signing of the 2014 Protocol to be unlawful, irrational and unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court confirmed this constitutional invalidity in December 2018.

The SADC tribunal is supposed to be a body that allows member states, and citizens access, should internal remedies fail them, but in 2014 when former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe did not want farmers who lost their farms to seek relief there, he convinced other states to sign a protocol that would prevent individuals from going to the tribunal.

‘The LSSA could not sit by silently and let this happen as we strongly believe in enhancing access to justice, which includes access to the courts. We are elated that our efforts were not in vain. The SADC summit in Tanzania noted South Africa’s withdrawal in compliance with the ConCourt ruling’, says LSSA President Mvuzo Notyesi.’

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA, MVUZO NOTYESI
LSSA Communications:
Nomfundo Jele nomfundom@LSSA.org.za Tel: (012) 366 8800 or 072 402 6344

The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) is ecstatic at the dismissal by the Constitutional Court of the application for leave to appeal in the matter of Proxi Smart Services (Pty) Limited vs the Law Society of South Africa and Others.

The matter was dismissed in early August. In the court order, the ConCourt concluded that ‘given the procedural insufficiencies in the applicant’s case, it is not in the interests of justice for it to adjudicate the issue on these papers’.

Proxi Smart Services (Pty) Limited applied to the Gauteng Division of the High Court for declaratory relief regarding 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 LSSA contended that the applicant’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.

‘We are very happy with the judgement. The ConCourt order confirms the High Court’s order that the applicant has not made out a case for the relief it sought. We are hopeful that this order brings the matter to a conclusion’, says LSSA President, Mvuzo Notyesi. He adds: ‘We would like to thank our legal team for their brilliant work, our attorneys at Maponya Attorneys as well as Advocate Allen Liversage SC and Advocate Lerato Maite.’

The matter was first dismissed by the High Court in February 2018 and denied the applicant leave to appeal in December 2018. The applicant then filed an application with the Supreme Court of Appeal, which was dismissed this May.

View all the Proxi Smart matter documents on the LSSA website: http://www.lssa.org.za/about-us/matters/proxismart-services-pty-ltd

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA, MVUZO NOTYESI
LSSA Communications:
Nomfundo Jele nomfundom@LSSA.org.za Tel: (012) 366 8800 or 072 402 6344

The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) has welcomed the Constitutional Court judgment on the Public Protector (Public Protector v South African Reserve Bank (CCT107/18) [2019] ZACC 29) as the judgment brings finality to the matter.

On 22 July, the majority of the Constitutional Court dismissed advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s application to set aside a judgment by the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria passed last year, which ordered that she pay 15% of the costs in that case from her own pocket.

The High Court judgment set aside the remedial action contained in her 2017 Absa/Bankorp report‚ which found that Absa should repay R1.1bn to the South African Reserve Bank. The Public Protector’s remedial actions also directed Parliament to amend the Constitution in order to change the mandate of the Reserve Bank.

The remarks made in the judgement brings into question the integrity of the Public Protector’s Office. We call on all relevant institutions to urgently work together to restore the dignity of this office in order to enable it to fufill its mandate without fear or prejudice.

‘We call on all institutions and the public to respect the administration of justice and to let the process take its natural course,’ says LSSA President, Mvuzo Notyesi. He adds: ‘The matter should be resolved immediately by those charged with resolving it as it is in the best interest of the public.’

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA, MVUZO NOTYESI
LSSA Communications: Nomfundo Jele nomfundom@LSSA.org.za Tel: (012) 366 8800 or 072 402 6344
 

It is with deep sadness that the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) announces the untimely death of its Communication Manager, Ms Barbara Whittle at the age of 55.

Ms Whittle lost her battle with cancer and passed away in the afternoon of 10 July 2019

‘The LSSA, its Exco, staff and the profession have lost a colleague, a dear friend, and mentor passionate about people and her job’, says LSSA President, Mvuzo Notyesi.

He adds: ‘Barbara has been in the employ of the LSSA since 1987. She started off as an Editorial Assistant and worked her way through the ranks to become Communication Manager in 2006. She loved and lived for the LSSA and the legal profession, always serving with a smile. She served the profession in a professional, competent and objective manner; always remembering the core objectives on the independence of the profession, the judiciary and the rule of law. She always went the extra mile and continued to work right up until the end.’

We offer our support, thoughts and prayers to Barbara’s husband Marius who has walked every step with Barbara and with the LSSA all these years. May he find solace in the knowledge that Barbara was loved, appreciated and admired by the staff and stakeholders of the LSSA, the legal profession and beyond.
 

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH
AFRICA, MVUZO NOTYESI
by the Law Society of South Africa Communication Department
Nomfundo Jele, Communications Officer, nomfundom@LSSA.org.za Tel: (012) 366 8800 or 072 402 6344.