Just a lawyer, not the law!

The South African justice system is one of the best systems in the world, and the historical background of how it was earned and adopted deeply touches my heart. However our justice system has been sabotaged countless times, mostly by those who suppose to protect it. People did not just die to overthrow the apartheid regime, they knew that the new dawn of a free and fair justice system for all will cement the end of the long years of struggle. And the best way to do so was by granting every South African citizen equal rights. The rights that will ensure and uphold justice for all in a South African, especially in our court room. The sour part that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth is that most practitioners of the law don't really respect the law. I recently visited one of the Law Society offices, and the pile of complaint applications that I saw on the table that day were disturbing. Which rises the question of how many lawyers really account for their misconduct and abuse of power?

Our justice system must ascertain that lawyers who break their oath of conduct by using the same law that they should be upholding to practise and cover illegal activities and injustices toward unsuspecting citizens are faced with serious repercussions. Because they undermine our hard earned democracy by trampling on human rights. Lawyers must embrace the fact that they are just practitioners of the law and not the law itself. There are many South Africans who have suffered injustices and cruelty from the very same lawyers they once appointed and trusted, and they did nothing but quietly walk away, because most people are intimidated by them. Much to that lawyer's content because they take advantage of the intimidation they bring towards the people hence why they feel so superior to an extend of trampling on the rights and dignity of the very same clients that appointed them, unfortunately the poor and uneducated South Africans are the most vulnarble in this regard.

The very same legal representatives who are supposed to uphold the law, lie and cheat their clients, and since this happens out of the court rooms, most of the time there are no repercussions. It's high time lawyer's understand and uphold their pledge to represent and protect the law, not to think they are the law and they are untouchable. Because their behaviour has cost many South Africans a hard earned justice and dignity. In my understanding to be a lawyer doesn't necessarily mean to be a good liar in or outside of court, in fact many people don't even know that a lawyer shouldn't lie at all because by so doing he breaks the oath. A good lawyer is not a good liar, but a representative of facts with intelligence. Unfortunately wisdom is God's gift, because education only gives knowledge. So fellow South Africans must know that only a handful of lawyers are really intelligent and mostly afforded by wealthy people.

Many South Africans even opt for legal aid and several times they find themselves more dissapointed and devasted, because most legal aid lawyers don't take their clients serious. Why would they? they are poor clients after all! yet by so doing they fail those who need justice the most, and God will surely judge them for that, after all God is justice! It is very disturbing and painful to meet people who were betrayed and abused by their own lawyers. Lawyers are suppose to uphold the law with dignity, not to misuse it to feed their egos and greediness. Being a lawyer is  serious business, because you are dealing with restoration of people's dignity. So preserve the purity of the law and justice, by treating your job as a calling not a career. So that in and outside our court rooms justice may always reign.

I proudly quote Chief Justice Mogoeng; All of us serve at the mercy of the people of South Africa and serve for the benefit of the people of South Africa. South Africans must hold accountable anyone who does anything unacceptable."

Kind Regards
Mr Eric Shikobela
078 169 7968.