By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition Parks Tau has approved the legal sector code under section 9(1) of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act to accelerate transformation in South Africa’s legal sector.
Tau said, the process of drafting the Legal Sector Code commenced in the previous administration led by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, together with the Legal Practice Council (LPC).
This collaborative effort has set the stage for the sector to achieve its B-BBEE objectives, which are designed to foster inclusive growth and transformation, he said.
The sector code outlines several key targets:
- an ownership target of 50% and black women ownership of 25% over 5 years.
- a management control (executive and board participation) target of 50% representation of black practitioners and a target of 25% for black women practitioners, particularly as equity partners and associates.
- a skills development target of 3.5% expenditure on training programmes for black candidates. The aim is also to ensure training in specialised skills for black legal practitioners, candidate legal practitioners, candidate legal practitioners and black junior advocates within the following designated categories: black women, black youth, black people with disabilities and black people from rural areas.
- a procurement target of 60% by the private sector, and there is a target of 80 % to be achieved through the specialised procurement scorecard applicable to the public sector. This will ensure fair and equitable access to specialised areas of law and complex matters when the state procures legal services from black Legal Sector Measured Entities (LSMEs) and ensure the sustainability of LSMEs.
Tau expressed anticipation for the swift implementation of the sector code, highlighting the strong evidence supporting the need for transformation within the legal sector.
“There is strong evidence to support the transformation of the legal sector which this sector code will help accelerate. We look forward to the speedy implementation of the Legal Sector Code, “Tau said.