Reflecting on a half-century in the legal profession, Judge Siraj Desai shares his experiences as both a lawyer and a judge.
Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
This week marks the 50th anniversary of retired Judge Siraj Desai's admission as an attorney. It was a day filled with reflection, celebration, and an acknowledgment of the substantial contributions he has made to South Africa’s legal landscape and its fight for freedom.
“Looking back 50 years, I would do things exactly the same. It was exciting, meaningful, and I played my role in the Struggle for freedom in this country - as a lawyer and in other capacities,” Judge Desai said in reflecting on his legal career.
It was on March 9, 1976, that Judge Desai was admitted as an attorney, and he said he did not appreciate at the time that a glorious career would follow.
He served as an attorney for five years, was a member of the Cape Bar for 20 years, and served on the Bench for five years before he retired. Although he had hung up his robe, he is still actively involved in the legal profession as the Legal Services Ombudsman.
He comes from very humble beginnings, being born in Salt River in the Western Cape, or “the backstreets of Cape Town”, as he calls it.
“My colleagues at the Bar all smiled when they heard I came from Salt River. I don’t know what the smiles were all about, but it made me an unlikely judge at the time.”
Judge Desai said when he started off in the legal profession, he was different from other members.
“When I became an attorney, there were only 12 attorneys of colour in Cape Town. We all knew each other because it is such a small community.”
During the 1970s - the years of riots - he became an article clerk, and the firm he was working at was at the centre of the activities and defended many accused.
It was exciting work and meaningful because they worked with a social situation of great magnitude.
His first case as an instructing attorney involved three accused charged with planting a limpid mine on railway tracks. It was a case filled with drama, with two witnesses who refused to testify “in this fascist court”.
Judge Desai also recalled doing his articles in 1976 under Dullah Omar, who later became the minister of justice.
“Dullah gave me a robe in my very first week and said, 'Go and defend this guy.' I have never defended anyone before.”
The accused was charged with throwing a stone at a police vehicle, but he missed the vehicle. He defended the man on the basis that it could not have been public violence, as he was about a kilometre away from the scene.
Nor was it malicious damage to property, as he missed the police vehicle.
Judge Desai recalled that the magistrate acquitted him on these charges but convicted him on some invented minor charge, slapping the accused with a R10 fine.
“The magistrate looked at me and said, ‘You have a good future ahead of you,’ and his prediction was right.”
While he attended to many cases over the years - both criminal and civil - Judge Desai especially recalled defending defence force generals accused of the 1988 Bophuthatswana coup, who stood trial for terrorism and were acquitted in the end.
He also fought for activist Shirley Gunn to have her baby placed with her after she was detained so that she could breastfeed him while in detention. Her son, Haroon Gunn-Salie, became a famous artist.
“Those were the days, and I had a very exciting practice, predicated on the times we were living in. I was in the streets with the people, I defended them, and I was so busy that I never got time to marry until I was 36.”
Judge Desai was married to Faieza Desai for 31 years before she passed away some years ago.
But the early years were not always easy, as being one of the very few people of colour in the profession at the time, he was at times alienated - not only for his colour but also because of his culture and class background.
“Despite that, I was better read than most of them.”
Judge Desai became a fan of famous Afrikaans writer NP van Wyk Louw and read all his books. This was after he, while sitting as a judge, was asked to ban one of the books for using the “K” word - which he refused to do.
He also, in his early years on the Bench, gave an order that beggars cannot be banned from the Waterfront area in Cape Town.
Judge Desai recalled walking along the area one day with his wife, how the police wanted to remove a beggar walking in front of them. The man, not realising the judge was behind him, told the police that the court said he may be there - which brought a smile to him and his wife.
Some of the big criminal trials he recalled presiding over included that of Najwa Petersen, who was convicted of the murder of her husband, Taliep Petersen.
Judge Desai still laughs when he recalls how, after he had sentenced her to 28 years in prison, the Muslim women he had encountered on the streets wanted to take a “selfie” picture with him.
The same happened among the Afrikaans community, he recalls, after he had sentenced triple axe murderer Henri van Breda to life imprisonment.
Judge Desai is grateful for the colourful legacy he will one day leave behind, especially for his two grandchildren, Mira and Rami, who are the apple of his eye.