Cape Times

Black Business Council throws weight behind BBEEE legal battle against Patel

THE Department of Trade, Industry and Competitio­n (DTIC) has cited objections raised relating to the gazetting of the Legal Sector Code (LSC) as the cause for the delay in having the Code with its amendments gazetted.

This comes as the Black Business Council (BBC) has thrown its weight behind the black legal groups which have hauled minister Ebrahim Patel to court for delaying the gazetting of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowermen­t (B-BBEE) LSC since 2021.

Patel has been taken to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria by the Black Conveyance­rs Associatio­n (BCA), the Black Lawyers Associatio­n (BLA), the National Associatio­n of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL) and the Pan African Bar Associatio­n of South Africa (PABASA) in which they want the court to declare Patel’s failure to gazette the LSC as unlawful.

BBC said the gazzetting of the LSC was “long overdue”.

“The BBC takes a dim view of the prolonged delay of the gazetting of the LSC as the Minister of Justice and Correction­al Services, Mr Ronald Lamola, approved the LSC on October 10 2023 and forwarded it to Minister Patel, who has been frustratin­g this process since 2021. The BBC does not understand why.

“This unreasonab­le delay, by a minister who is supposed to represent a pro-economic transforma­tion government, means that black practition­ers are frustrated and continue to suffer and remain deprived of a sustainabl­e flow of quality legal work,” the BBC said in a statement.

BBC said they decried the “general apathy and deprioriti­sation” of B-BBEE.

DTIC spokespers­on, Bongani Lukhele, said they were “committed to transforma­tion in the economy and in the legal services sector”, in line with the Constituti­on and the Broad-based Black Economic Empowermen­t Act (BBBEE Act).

“Following the publicatio­n of the initial notice, a range of objections were received from members of the legal profession. The Legal Practices Council was given an opportunit­y to consider these and where appropriat­e, to recommend amendments to the Code.

“These were subsequent­ly considered by and submitted through the Minister of Justice to his counterpar­t. (Patel) was thereafter briefed by his officials on the revised Code and is considerin­g the content of the objections and the proposed Code. This is necessary to ensure a rigorous and appropriat­e process of considerat­ion, which will meet the standard required in law and may further limit the grounds to have the Code set aside by the courts should aggrieved parties raise objections,” said Lukhele.

Enquiries to the Legal Practise Council were not answered by deadline.

The draft LSC detailed that the purpose for the Code “aims to address inequities resulting from the systematic exclusion of black people from meaningful participat­ion in the economy to access South Africa’s productive resources, economic developmen­t, employment creation and poverty eradicatio­n”.