Celebrating 100 years of women in law
It was not until 1967 that Desiree Finca from Umtata was admitted as the first black female lawyer in South Africa.
Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court celebrated 100 years of women practising law at D Court last Friday afternoon.
The event was to celebrate all women who work in law, from clerks to magistrates, and everyone in between.
Guest speaker Anitha Sesiah, a retired magistrate said the law is very close to her heart.
“Every woman in legal practise is familiar with the prejudice we have to face daily. Our gender alludes to weakness and our daily battle is to convince our adversaries that our physical attribute have no bearing on our intellect and our competence as practitioners.”
She said every time she sat on the bench she had to separate herself from her true personality, to adopt a persona that society expected her to be in court.
Another guest speaker, Nalinee Moodley, director of Van Zyl Retief Inc said that people should be grateful for the gift of life.
Moodley was very ill with a brain tumour just before she wrote her final law exam.
The chairperson of the Legal Practice Council (LPC) provincial council, Savera Maharaj said the first woman who made her application to practise law in South Africa was denied.
“It was denied on the basis that the term person excluded women. It was published in the South African law journals that women are conspicuously unfit for the law because they have no idea of relevance, analogy and evidence.”
She said the Women Legal Practitioners Act 7 of 1923 opened doors for women to be admitted as attorneys and advocates.
Irene Geffen was the first woman to be admitted as an advocate in 1923. Constance Mary Hall followed as the first female attorney in 1926.
“That celebration has to be placed in context, the struggle of women in this country and in particular black women, against the backdrop of the racial injustice that were perpetrated against black people because it took a further 46 years for the first black female to be admitted as an attorney.”
It was not until 1967 that Desiree Finca from Umtata, was admitted as the first black female lawyer.
Maharaj said it is to her that they owe a huge ‘Siyabonga mama Finca’.
The event ended with gifts being handed to the longest serving clerk, Thabisile Mchunu, retired magistrates and others.
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