Acting SCA president reveals issues of racial divisions in the courts

Racial divisions existed between judges serving in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA)‚ the Judicial Services Commission heard on Monday.

Acting SCA President Mandisa Maya said they were working on changing this.

“If there is any court that needs diversity training‚ it is our court. We simply don’t get along‚” Maya revealed during her interview for the SCA President post.

She told commissioners that she was behind organizing a diversity seminar for her colleagues.

“Many colleagues signed up for it and the results of it were positive. By the end of that seminar‚ everyone who had attended it was converted. We agreed upon having a follow up seminar‚” she said.

The day after the two-day seminar‚ Maya said she was shocked to see the immediate transformation.

“[The day after] I went to the tearoom and for the first time‚ I walked in and saw judges sitting‚ mixing - a white judge sitting next to a black judge and coloured judge‚” she said‚ adding that previously the different races occupied their own corners.

Maya said she was determined to see this spill over into the cases they dealt with.

She called for congeniality among her colleagues.

“One of the things I would like to improve is softening the face of the court‚ creating an environment where counsel can be given a rough time but can say they were given a proper hearing‚” she said.

If Maya succeeds and is appointed as the President of the SCA‚ history will be made‚ as she will be the first woman to hold the position.

She has already made history as she was the first female deputy president of the SCA.