Three more South African law firms joined a legal challenge to review stricter policies around Black ownership and representation in these practices.

Bowmans, Webber Wentzel and Werksmans “have intervened in support of legal proceedings” initiated by Norton Rose Fulbright to revisit the new broad-based Black economic empowerment legal sector code of good practice introduced by Trade Minister Parks Tau in September 2024, the firms said in a statement Tuesday.

While the companies support the code, they say it needs to be “workable and sustainable,” arguing that the current iteration “does not fully meet these criteria.”

Tau’s new code states firms that generate more than R25 million in revenue annually need to increase Black management control and procurement. It also requires firms to double Black-ownership targets to 50% in five years.

The firms say junior lawyers require a progression path that generally takes seven to 10 years before they reach that point.

South Africa’s government introduced so-called sectoral empowerment codes to help address the injustices of White-minority rule known as apartheid that ended in 1994 and excluded Black citizens from fully participating in the economy.

source:Big BEE battle in South Africa – Daily Investor