New Solicitor General’s port of call: transforming the legal profession

Transformation of the country’s judiciary has been a hot potato for a while. And, for a while, lobbyists have been faulting government for dragging its feet.
Now the Minister of Justice, Michael Masutha, has announced the creation of the post of solicitor general to oversee the speedy transformation of the legal profession.
Ahead of his budget speech in the National Assembly, Cape Town on 19 of May 2015, Masutha said: “The position of solicitor general is essential to drive transformation in the legal profession and the judiciary, and to ensure that the office of the attorney general has the necessary power, authority and influence.”
Furthermore, Masutha explained that it will be the solicitor’s job to oversee the office of the state attorney.
State institutions and the private sector have been accused of the tendency of using white, male advocates or legal teams instead of engaging previously disadvantaged legal practitioners.
On the objective of the judiciary’s transformation agenda, Masutha says: “We want to consolidate state litigation, build skills and raise the level of professionalism in that office and ensure all other entities providing legal support to the state work closely with that institution.”