Law 'should be central to social justice'
The law should be at the centre of building social justice, advocate Muzi Sikhakhane said on the 30th anniversary of the death of lawyer and freedom fighter Griffiths Mxenge. Sikhakhane criticised lawyers who "believe that they become better lawyers only by interpreting contracts and the intricacies of the capitalist system," he said, adding "[t]hey call themselves black-letter lawyers, (yet) they ignore what law is about," Business Day reports.
Sikhakhane was speaking on behalf of the Victoria Mxenge Group, a new group of advocates at the Johannesburg bar.
Saturday was the 30th anniversary of the murder of Griffiths Mxenge by the apartheid regime. His wife, Victoria, was also murdered four years later. Speaking to the lawyers and judges assembled, Sikhakhane said: "When you sit at your dinner tables and you point fingers at 'these guys' who are messing up your country ... spare a thought, just one thought, for people who truly know a government that messed up".
According to Business Day, Sikhakhane said that the name of Victoria Mxenge was chosen because "we believe law should be at the centre of the development of society". Law could not be called law if "our practice is not at the centre of making sure that those who are at the margins of the human condition become our concern". Sikhakhane also spoke about the alienation felt by black and women advocates at the bar, saying that the formation of the group was driven by an "utter sense of despair".
Read the full article on www.businessday.co.za.
