The courts system has been transformed so that all courts up to the Constitutional Court are led by black men and women, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng told the Black Managment Forum on Friday, notes a Sunday Tribune report. Speaking at the forum’s 40th anniversary celebration, he said 65% of the country’s judges were now black. ‘There are 1 233 magistrates, of which 741 are African, which represents 60%, and 545, or 44%, are women. Seven of the nine Regional Court presiding officers are Africans – 78%. Of the 17 Chief Magistrates, eight are African and 10 are women,' he said. ‘Nelson Mandela said he felt like a black man in a white man’s court because the police officer, prosecutor and the judicial officer were all white. Now the court system has been transforme d. The prosecution and the police have been similarly transformed. Madiba would be proud to learn that his dreams are fast becoming a reality,’ noted Mogoeng.

Full Sunday Tribune report (subscription needed)  

Mogoeng also pointed out that wealthy blacks preferred the services of white lawyers when they appeared in court. According to a City Press report, Mogoeng said he had experienced the favouring of white lawyers in all courts he had presided over, from the High Court to the Labour Appeal Court and now the Constitutional Court. He said transformation would not be achieved as long as those who were empowered forgot those needing empowerment. ‘I see who the parties (in courts) are and who they give work to. I do not mean to embarrass anybody, but state-subsidised institutions, government departments, black people who have money generally – when they give work to attorneys and advocates, it is to white compatriots. If yo u think I am exaggerating, come to the Constitutional Court; I will open the books for you,’ Mogoeng said. ‘How then do you transform when you forget that in the process of being empowered, you must empower the previously disadvantaged? Believe you me, even political parties – the majority, the overwhelming majority of whom are black people – you must see who they give work to.’

Full City Press report

See also: Mogoeng on land issues

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