While major law firms recently challenged the new Legal Sector Code aimed at transformation, the Johannesburg Society of Advocates defends pupillage admissions process against racial quota allegations.
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The Johannesburg Society of Advocates has issued a strong denial against allegations made by a member concerning its pupillage admissions programme and the quota system used by the association
Advocate Mark Oppenheimer, in a recent interview with the SABC, described the admissions process at the Johannesburg Bar as a “highly racially charged” system and stated that the JSA had implemented a “quota system” which capped the number of white male pupils admitted each year at five out of every 100 candidates.
The JSA responded that these statements are false.
Its chairperson Advocate Don Mahon SC explained that the association presently admitted approximately 80 pupils annually into its pupillage programme.
“The admissions process does not employ any quota system which limits the admission of white male applicants, whether to five candidates or otherwise," he said.
He explained that the admissions process was conducted through a structured assessment model involving both paper-based evaluation and interviews. Applicants are scored across a range of criteria. While points are allocated in recognition of historical disadvantage and the constitutional imperative of transformation, this forms only one component of a broader evaluative framework.
“Indeed, many of the criteria traditionally associated with academic achievement and professional advancement inevitably favour applicants who have historically enjoyed greater access to educational opportunity, professional networks, financial support, and social mobility. The admissions process therefore seeks to evaluate candidates holistically and fairly within the broader realities of South African society,” he said.
Mahon stressed that the JSA does not apologise for placing significant value on transformation.
“Transformation is a constitutional imperative rooted in the lived history of exclusion from the Bar and the broader legal sector."
According to him, transformation itself is not synonymous with exclusion, and any insinuation that “white males need not apply” is demonstrably untrue and inconsistent with the actual composition of the Johannesburg Bar.
Mahon said the JSA valued diversity in all its forms and remained committed to attracting talented candidates from every background.
While their records reflect a significant decline in the number of white male applicants seeking admission to pupillage in recent years, this affects the demographic composition of the pupillage intake. It would thus be incorrect and unfair to attribute the number of white male pupils admitted to pupillage at the JSA to the existence of any exclusionary quota or cap, he explained.
Mahon said white males continued to occupy a dominant position within the senior echelons of the profession.
Of the JSA’s 238 senior counsel, 148 are white men, representing approximately 62.2% of all silks. Of the 24 applications for recommendation for senior counsel status which have been received this year, 14 applicants are white males.
In an affidavit recently before court in the challenge to the Legal Sector Code, it was recorded that black advocates, and black women advocates in particular, continued to experience disproportionately high attrition rates during the early years of practice. This is due to enduring structural barriers relating to access to work, financial precarity, exclusionary briefing patterns, and lack of institutional support.
The broader statistical realities of the profession, including patterns relating to seniority, commercial briefing, retention, and elevation to silk, demonstrate that significant disparities remain deeply entrenched, Mahon said.
He explained that until 1950, the Johannesburg Bar operated under a formal “colour bar” which excluded black practitioners from membership altogether. Even after the formal removal of racial exclusion, black advocates remained subject to severe institutional prejudice and exclusion under apartheid.
According to Mahon, the experience of the JSA demonstrated that those practitioners, including white practitioners, who meaningfully contributed to mentorship, skills transfer, inclusion, and institutional transformation are often recognised and rewarded within the profession.
"The JSA does not value one race above another, and in the long journey of transformation, it has no intention of leaving any race or gender behind," Mahon said.