Cape Town - Twenty-two years into democracy, South Africa needs to address the issue of gender balance in the country’s courts by appointing more women as judges of the Constitutional Court, says Acting Deputy Chief Justice Bess Nkabinde.
“The progress on gender representivity is moving at a snail’s pace, especially in relation to the Constitutional Court. But we cannot point fingers. We must act as a catalyst for change. We should step back and ask not ‘what is the whole extent of what we are bound to do?’ but rather ‘what is the clearest thing we ought to do first?’”.
Nkabinde was speaking at the gala dinner of the South African Chapter of the International Women Judges (SAC-IAWJ) held at the University of Cape Town on Friday.
Addressing women in the judiciary, who will be attending the 12th conference of the SAC-IAWJ, she said there can be no doubt that both the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) and the Magistrates Commission have the responsibility of ensuring that aspects such as race, gender and experience and qualification are considered in the appointment processes.
“It becomes apparent when one looks back at 1994, that some progress has been made. It is heartening that during some of its sittings, particularly during or about October 2013, some progress was made. Seven of the nine names the JSC submitted to the President to fill various superior court vacancies across the country were those of women.
“That increased the number of female judges to 89 out of a total of 239 judges countrywide, then. The number has surely increased since then,” Nkabinde said.
However, she said, racial and gender changes alone are not adequate to secure the public confidence in the courts and their processes. A broader reform agenda, which understands the intrinsic link between an improved judicial system and winning the broader public confidence for a more representative judiciary, may be needed, Nkabinde said.
In most societies, the majority of the marginalised people are women and children. Nkabinde lamented the fact that many women find the judicial system inaccessible.
Improvement in the appointment of women
However, Minister of Women in the Presidency Susan Shabangu said the appointment of eight women as judges out of 12 appointments is a clear indication that indeed South Africa belongs to all.
“Transformation of the judiciary is part of the broader transformation agenda of the South African government. A lot of significant changes have occurred in the judicial system, including the judiciary since 1994,” she said.
In December last year, there were two women Judge Presidents and two women Deputy Judge Presidents. Women constitute more than 30 percent of the judiciary.
International Association of Women Judges
Twenty-three years ago, a group of 50 women judges from around the world came together to form the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ), which is based in Washington, United States of America.
It serves as the mother body to various international chapters and it has since grown to more than 4 000 members in more than 103 countries around the globe.
The SA Chapter of IAWJ
The South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges (SAC-IAWJ) was launched following a decision taken at the ‘Women in the Judiciary Making a Difference’ conference held in Cape Town in 2003.
The membership of the chapter comprises judicial officers, as defined in the Constitution to refer to both judges and magistrates.
The organisation seeks to bring together women and other Judicial Officers in South Africa, who embrace the objectives of the chapter regardless of their gender, race or rank in the judiciary, with the aim of promoting solidarity amongst judicial officers. - SAnews.gov.za
