Celebrating Women in Law: The Difficult Passage to Legitimacy
‘Well-behaved women seldom make history.’ So said Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvard professor who constitutes a formidable woman in her own right. What relevance do her words have in modern day South Africa, however? To celebrate Women’s Month, Xuba & Associates Attorneys wishes to highlight some of the trailblazers of South African history that fought to have women placed in legitimate positions within the legal world. While many did not get to see the fruits of their labour, these heroines fought against societal expectations and paved the way for other women to become recognised within the justice system.
SONJA SCHLESIN
Schlesin began her journey into law as a clerical assistant to Mohandas Ghandi – a then recently-admitted attorney in South Africa. Though she was initially offered a significant salary on account of her shorthand talents, Schlesin instead opted for a lower amount, stating that she did the work because she admired all that her employer stood for, not the money. Throughout her time with Gandhi she wrote various speeches for him in which she provided support for the suffragette movement and the combatting of segregation laws. As her own form of protest against societal norms, Schlesin cut her hair short, wore a tie regularly and smoked. So impressed was Ghandi by Schlesin’s dedication that he offered to mentor her for legal articles, making her the first woman in South Africa to be considered for a position in the legal fraternity. Though the judiciary eventually denied her this on account of her gender in 1909, Sonja Schlesin’s fortitude encouraged other women to seek out the same opportunity for years to come.
YVONNE MOKGORO
The late Justice Yvonne Mokgoro is known by many as the first black woman to serve as a judge in South Africa, but that is only the beginning of her achievements. Though initially commencing her professional career as a nursing assistant, a harrowing encounter with the apartheid police force resulted in Mokgoro meeting Robert Sobukwe, a political activist. With Subukwe’s encouragement, the future Justice pursued a law degree, eventually accumulating in not only a B.Juris degree, but also an LLB, two Master of Laws degrees, and a position as an esteemed lecturer at the University of Pretoria. Mokgoro eventually became one of three academics elected as a Justice on the first South African Constitutional Court bench in 1994, and through her position penned many judgements expressing the essentiality of racial and gender equality, customary law, and the value of ubuntu in the new constitutional dispensation. As a Justice, an academic, a mother, a wife, and a daughter, Yvonne Mokgoro has inspired generations of women to pursue justice through law, and for that she must be celebrated.
Women’s Month allows South Africans to take a brief retrospective look at the historical figures who paved the way for modern women to shape the law. Without the likes of Sonja Schlesin and Yvonne Mokgoro, South Africa would not be the remarkable country it currently is. For any legal enquiries, please contact Xuba & Associates Attorneys.