Who is . . . Vuka Tshabalala?
Swapna Prabhakaran and Mungo Soggot
Judges rarely open their mouths outside court. When they do, it is never about their cases. And it is almost never about themselves.
It was therefore a surprising decision on the part of Judge Vuka Tshabalala to abandon the rule of silence outside court last weekend and speak openly about his bid for the number two position on the KwaZulu-Natal bench.
The judge who has reminded South Africa of the enormous problems surrounding the transformation of the bench said in the weekend press that his opponents in KwaZulu- Natal were motivated by racism.
He was quoted objecting in particular to the way in which the judges opposed his nomination.
“The thing is the way they did it – clubbing up like they did against me.”
All of which was probably an own goal. His detractors – the majority of the province’s high court judges who protested against Tshabalala’s appointment as deputy judge president – would presumably have considered it an inopportune time to go public.
In a move reminiscent of the fierce lobbying by senior judges last year against Ismail Mahomed’s appointment as chief justice, the KwaZulu-Natal judges last week petitioned the judicial services commission to reject Tshabalala’s nomination, claiming he would fail to “command the respect of other judges”.
They wanted their nominee, Willem Booysen, a former member of the Broederbond, instead.
As one advocate put it, Tshabalala might have shown bad judgment in joining the debate at the weekend, but his opponents certainly failed to demonstrate impeccable judgment themselves where their nomination was concerned. In the end the commission failed to select a candidate.
It is trite to say that South Africa’s judiciary is in urgent need of reform, staffed by many creatures of the old order who – in addition to being remote from a human rights culture – demonstrate an unpredictable approach to commercial cases that sends many parties scurrying to arbitration.
The fight over Tshabalala also exemplifies the horrific legacy of apartheid.
The question that remains, once the thickets of race politics have been cut away, is whether Tshabalala is up to the job – even if allowances are made for his background.
Tshabalala’s supporters argue that openness and a respect for human rights are equally important attributes for a judge as those of experience, legal sagacity and aloofness.
“He is a jolly, very kind man,” says attorney Krish Govender of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers.
Govender concedes that Tshabalala, who is a judge in the former Ciskei, does not have the breadth of legal experience of many of his white colleagues, but he says he does have the qualities the vast majority of South Africans expect in a judge.
“Judge Tshabalala did not have the opportunities that went with white privilege to shine as an extra special legal personality, nor was he given the opportunity to be involved in a wide cross-section of legal work.
“He was however at all times a kind, just and fair-minded person who treated all human beings with dignity and respect.”
Tshabalala has had his share of torment under the old order, having lost his wife, Pearl, to unknown assassins – possibly the “Caprivi” trainees of the Inkatha Freedom Party.
Before joining the Ciskei bench, he spent 29 years in practice, with several stints in business.
Govender says Tshabalala performed a fair amount of criminal work, and presumably gained experience in commercial law through his business affairs.
He could not recall any specific brief he gave Tshabalala, but said he would almost certainly have briefed him during his early days at the Bar.
Tshabalala, known by some in court as “the late Mr Tshabalala”, appears to have had an unexceptional practice as a junior advocate, handling many magistrate’s court matters and pro deo cases.
He also did some political defence work in the Eastern Cape.
Tshabalala served on a number of commerce organisations in KwaZulu- Natal.
He took silk after 1994, but was soon dispatched to serve on a corruption commission in Bophuthatswana.
Two of his more junior black colleagues at the KwaZulu-Natal bar – Louis Skweyiya and Marumo Moerane – became senior counsel before him.
KwaZulu-Natal has also produced two of the country’s most prominent black jurists: Pius Langa and Justice Poswa.
One senior KwaZulu-Natal lawyer who is sticking by Tshabalala said he would have become a judge far earlier had he been white.
He said Tshabalala “has been involved in all those areas that one would expect from an African male in law”.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to believe that 14 judges would have stuck their collective neck out so far, had they not been deeply unconvinced of Tshabalala’s credentials for the job.
Born: March 23 1937 (“I’m out of circulation now!”)
Defining characteristics: Earnest and kindly
Favourite person: “As a black person it is difficult to say”
Admires: Integrity and honesty
Despises: The unreliable
Likely to say: “They’re clubbing together against me”
Least likely to say: “No comment”
If I could live my life again … “I’d still be a lawyer”