In the previous issue of SA Lawyer, the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) approached legal associations in South Africa (SA) to tell us more about their associations (see ‘Associations for the legal profession’ 2022 (Sept) SA Lawyer 9).
In this issue, Production Editor, Kathleen Kriel, continues with the article and spoke to the Black Conveyancers Association.
What is the importance of being a part of your association?
The Black Conveyancers Association (BCA) was formed in May 2005 in response to the historical inequalities in the conveyancing industry. As the only identifiable, credible black conveyancing member organisation, the BCA remains instrumental in advancing and representing the interests of black owned conveyancing legal practises nationally for the past 18 years.
How many active members does your association have?
The BCA has a footprint of around 160 accredited members in all provinces in SA.
Please give us a summary of your association’s constitution/vision and/or mission.
Our vision is to establish the BCA as the leader in unlocking conveyancing opportunities through key partnerships to ensure personal and organisational growth for its members in the South African property market.
Our mission is to grow a national collaborative of 100% black owned conveyancing law firms. Our purpose is to:
How do you engage with your members?
Fulltime office administration, landline, mobile, e-mail, social media, and website. Our new website has been launched and you can visit the website at: www.blackconveyancers.org.za.
How does your association support young legal practitioners and female legal practitioners in the profession?
The BCA’s Constitution (clause 3) provides for mentorship and active participation in the BCA activities through its Youth and Women’s Desks ensuring timeous exposure to the female and young legal practitioners in our membership.
What are the challenges your members are experiencing in practice?
The greatest challenge to the BCA is the lack of sustainable conveyancing legal work to our members to keep their practises afloat while being unable to grow capacity in their offices through training initiatives – hence the formation of the BCTA.
What benefits would your members like to receive from the LSSA?
Support, mentorship, and empowerment to transform the conveyancing industry – extreme lack of transformation in the industry leading to the BCA launching a formal complaint against the leading banks in our country in 2020 at the Competition Commissioner that led to a positive finding of uncompetitive behaviour by certain banks. Since then, very little has changed and the support by the LSSA will be welcomed in our continued struggle to transform the conveyancing landscape in our country.
It is also hoped that the introduction of the Legal Sector Code (LSC) soon will accelerate the pace of transformation in the legal sector especially from an ownership perspective with historically large law remaining untransformed.
What plans do you have for your members for the future?
Deliver on our purpose in the best interest of our members by increase access to conveyancing work and growing their practises and creating employment for our youth. Partner with banks, industry stakeholders and government departments to ensure sustainable briefing instructions for our members.
Kathleen Kriel BTech (Journ) is the Production Editor at De Rebus.
This article was first published in SA Lawyer in 2024 (January) DR 10.
