About us
Go to: Join the initiativeOverview
Recognising that progress has been made in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within the South African legal fraternity, but acknowledging that there is still significant room for improvement, the SA GC for D&I initiative aims to foster greater inclusivity within the community by providing a platform for corporate entities, law firms, groups of advocates, and other legal sector players to engage on critical diversity issues.
Purpose
We believe diversity enhances and benefits organisations, the legal professions, and society. Therefore, we are committed to working collaboratively to promote and maintain diverse, equitable, and inclusive working environments. We are also committed to initiating and/or supporting programmes and interventions aimed at meaningfully, intentionally, and substantively identifying and addressing priority development areas within the legal fraternity; and to individually and as a collective, advocating for, demonstrating, practising, and advancing diversity, equity and inclusion.
Statement of support
The SA GC for D&I initiative is founded on a Statement of Support that articulates the commitment of participating members and partners to collaborate in creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive legal workplaces.
The Statement serves as the foundation for various programmes designed to address priority areas for development within the profession. The signatory companies commit to advocating for diversity, inclusion, and true ubuntu-inspired inclusivity, individually and collectively.
Working committee
The working committee is appointed by, and reports to, the steering committee and is tasked with signing up new members and partner members, overseeing the working groups and their outputs, coordinating the members’ group to make decisions on research topics, and making proposals to the steering committee relating to events, initiatives, and opportunities.
Working groups
Working groups are ad hoc, multi-stakeholder committees of voluntary members formed to discuss, debate, and research topics of interest to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the South African legal fraternity. Examples of working groups include neurodiversity, gender identity, moving beyond diversity to equity and inclusion, racial dynamics in the South African legal fraternity, and talent management for diversity, equity and inclusion.
Talent Management for DEI Outcomes
This working group considers the full value chain of talent management, from identifying and recruiting to retaining and promoting quality diverse individuals. Our discussions focus on common barriers and practical interventions to help organisations in the legal fraternity build on existing efforts and successes to enhance our ability to manage our talent in the service of diversity, equity and inclusion outcomes
Gender Identity and Belonging
Despite significant efforts, male-female gender equity remains unsolved, including in the legal sector. More recently, public discussions about gender identity have expanded conversations on gender and its influence in our organisations. This working group explores this topic with a broad lens to help guide organisations that are looking to engage in these often sensitive topics, and trying to identify interventions to assist in creating a sense of belonging and equity for people of all gender identities
Neurodiversity in the Legal Sector
Neurodiversity is a comparatively poorly understood aspect of diversity. We believe that the legal sector will benefit from better awareness of neurodiversity and neurominorities. Treating neurodiversity as a type of diversity, not a set of negative characteristics, will help us be more inclusive of neurominorities and build teams in which a greater mix of individuals feel welcome and able to deliver to their best abilities. This working group explores these topics
Racial Dynamics in the Legal Sector
Racial dynamics in South Africa continue to be a stubborn challenge for us as a nation, and the legal sector is no different. In this working group, we are unpacking the ways in which race plays a role in individuals’ career trajectories and opportunities. Our discussions will form the basis of recommendations on how the legal sector can improve racial dynamics in a responsible and sensitive way
Moving Beyond Diversity to Focus on Inclusion and Equity
This working group seeks to understand the ways in which we can go beyond diversity to deliver inclusion, equity and a sense of belonging. Our view is that diversity without inclusion (for example, in tick-box exercises) severely limits the potential positive impact of diversity, and we are investigating structural, behavioural and habitual interventions that can help unleash the true value of diversity in our organisations and teams