The Pretoria Bar on verge of collapse over racial divisions
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Black lawyers say decision to liquidate the Pretoria Bar is a ploy to get rid of them, not the R8m debt of previous and current members. Picture: Succo/Pixabay Black lawyers say decision to liquidate the Pretoria Bar is a ploy to get rid of them, not the R8m debt of previous and current members. Picture: Succo/Pixabay
Johannesburg - The Pretoria Bar appears to be on the verge of collapse over racial divisions.
Black advocates are accusing their white colleagues of orchestrating the mooted liquidation of the 120-year-old organisation as a ploy to get rid of them.
Three black counsels - former Bar member advocate Andrew Masombuka and two current members who spoke on condition of anonymity - said the body’s decision to apply for liquidation last month was an attempt to limit the influence of black lawyers on the Bar.
Black lawyers hold half of the
positions at the Bar in a 50/50 constitutional co-governance agreement between the Advocates for Transformation (AFT), a pro-Black lobby group, and white lawyers.
The Pretoria Bar sent shockwaves through the legal fraternity when it announced it would be filing for liquidation. It cited bankruptcy and partly attributed the decision to Covid-19 related national lockdown.
In a letter sent to members following a general meeting, the association’s head, advocate Jannet Gildenhuys, said: “It pains me to inform you that the Pretoria Society of Advocates will apply for a provisional winding-up order.”
She added that the Bar’s problems were compounded by unpaid fees amounting to more than R8 million, owed by current and previous members.
Gildenhuys further stated that the landlord was willing to offer a four-month rental reduction but was not prepared to cancel the lease of the building. The offer, added Gildenhuys, would not offset the Bar’s financial obligation.
Speaking to Sunday Independent this week, Masombuka insisted that Gildenhuys’ explanation was a smokescreen to reverse transformation, “deal with the AFT” and pave the way for a new, white-dominated Bar.
“The so-called liquidation of the Pretoria Bar is nothing but a ploy to remove blacks in the advocacy profession. The anti-transformation gang will start their own white bar with a few black faces,” Masombuka said.
“All of this is because they don’t want Advocates for Transformation. They are taking advantage of the effects of the lockdown. It’s sad that they used a crisis to pursue their immoral anti-transformation agenda.”
He said there was no way the council could be bankrupt to the point where liquidation was the only option.
AFT chairperson advocate Molotsi Hlalele said his organisation did not support the “premature” resolution to liquidate the Bar.
“The fact that negotiations with the landlord are ongoing bolsters the AFT stance that the decision to liquidate was premature and motivated by some other motives unknown to AFT.
“The society has over the last couple of years lived from month to month depending on the contributions received by members in respect of their Bar accounts. There is therefore nothing new which now necessitates the liquidation of the society,” Hlalele said.
Maintaining that a new bar would be formed, Hlalele said the liquidation was driven by ulterior motives.
“There is clearly an agenda geared at regressing the transformative gains of the society to be one that is non-inclusive. AFT believes that member(s) of the Bar Council’s non-AFT constituency are propagating for the formation of a new society in the suburban east of Pretoria with a new constitution.
“The proponents of a motion tabled before the society in February of this year aimed at the constitutional amendment which would have brought an end to the 50/50 constitutional co-
governance between the AFT and non-AFT members.”
Hlalele said the AFT voted against the liquidation but they were outvoted.
“Our white colleagues used their number, because they are in the majority, to push the vote. AFT isn’t happy with the proposal and we believe the process needs a proper consultation.”
Gildenhuys did not respond to specific questions sent to her. Instead, she said the “leading questions” were “based on incorrect factual information and assumptions”. They were also seemingly “inspired by or intended to drive a divisive agenda subscribed to by few”.
“It is regrettable because the members of the Pretoria Society of Advocates find themselves in very difficult circumstances at present along with most other South Africans,” she said.
“All current efforts of the Bar Council of the Society are based on a unanimous decision taken by the Bar Council on 9 May, 2020, and are directed at finding an inclusive and sustainable solution in the interest of all our members.”
“The bar was first at the Momentum Buildings. It then moved to the High Court Chambers and subsequently the New Court Chambers. In 2018, the Bar decided to allow members to go to the East (Pretoria East). You had the Groenkloof Chambers opening up as well as the Club Chambers.
"As a result of that, there was an exodus of members from the High Court Chambers. The Bar stood as surety for those groups that left and they were able to set up and now are comfortable,” said one advocate. Another advocate added that the net result of the migration was that the High Court chambers were left almost empty. About 90 people were occupying a building that can accommodate 260 people.
“The non-AFT component started saying that the Bar is insolvent because it can’t pay its debt when it becomes due. There is a fallacy in that logic because the Bar pays for all of its rentals in advance. For June, the Bar pays at the end of May. They were saying by the end of June or July if we keep losing members due to Covid, the Bar will become insolvent so we might as well close the Bar now,” he maintained.
Chairperson of the General Council of the Bar of South Africa Craig Watt-Pringle SC yesterday said “it would be a pity” if the Pretoria Bar Council “eventually goes into liquidation”. However, he denied that the racial tensions were behind the possible demise of the Bar.
“It is true that the members remaining within the buildings are predominately black as other members are moving out of the buildings in the CBD. There is no evidence that suggests there is a racial tension but there are extreme views being exchanged between the members. The problem is that the bar council has been using money from its reserves to pay for the rent as some of its members are struggling to pay their monthly contributions which amount to millions of rands,” he said.
The turmoil comes amid growing racial divisions within the legal fraternity, with the formation of a breakaway bar association by some black lawyers in 2018.
The Pan African Bar Association of SA was established to tackle “white male supremacy” and to ensure blacks and women “do not seek white male validation to be recognised”, said its founding members at the time. They included advocates Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC and Muzi Sikhakhane SC.
The divisions come hot on the heels of infighting within the Western Cape division, which has pitted Judge President John Hlophe against his deputy Patricia Goliath. Judge Goliath, who is largely supported by white judges, filed a misconduct complaint against Judge Hlophe with the Judicial Service Commission.
She accused him of sidelining her, assaulting a junior colleague in chambers, and of trying to use his position to influence cases in favour of former president Jacob Zuma.
In response, Judge Hlophe, whose supporters are mainly black judges, laid a counter complaint of gross judicial misconduct against Judge Goliath, saying invoking Zuma’s name was an “irresponsible and manufactured false allegation made simply to spice up the gravity of the case against me”.
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has previously spoken out against racial divisions, institutionalised racism and injustice.
“Some of us no longer want to recognise the injustices of the past. Whenever they are being highlighted, it is seen as though they are seeking refuge under that. We need to recognise the injustices of our past and seek to understand the notion that South Africa belongs to all who live in it,” he said while addressing the Brand Summit South Africa gathering in Cape Town in May 2018.