Law Society won�t back down
Oarabile Mosikare | Friday February 5, 2016 16:43
In a gritty statement issued yesterday afternoon, the LSB noted as “irrational and an abuse of authority” the decision by the ministry not to interact with it until a public apology is given.
Responding to the acting Permanent Secretary Augustine Makgonatsotlhe’s threats, the LSB executive secretary Tebogo Moipolai said anyone who has read the speech delivered by their chairperson Lawrence Lecha would be dumbfounded by this allegation levelled against him.
“The principle stated in the speech that a judiciary must reflect the demographics of the society it serves is accepted the world over. Any suggestion that it has racial, xenophobic and discriminatory undertones is either indicative of a serious dearth of knowledge of the social sciences or simply mischievous. As said in the speech, in South Africa the often talked about transformation of the judiciary, which is being championed by the country’s chief justice, is based on this very principle and the country has made great strides in that regard whilst Botswana, a much older democracy lags behind,” said Lecha.
It needs to be stated that being a multiracial, multicultural and tolerant nation does not mean as a society we should shy away from publicly dealing with issues simply because they deal with race, he said.
“It means, in the Law Society’s view, being able to live in harmony without discriminating against each other despite your different races and cultures. The Law Society is a known proponent of adherence to the Constitution, the rule of law and universal human rights and subscribes without reservation to this. It is noteworthy that in the speech complained of, the Law Society also talked about the fact that the courts did not reflect the gender and age profile of the country and yet the ministry chose to only see the alleged racial and xenophobic undertones.”