Reflections on the Legal Market in South Africa

In spite of the recent growth of the rankings in Nigeria and Kenya, South Africa continues to be a way out in front as one of the most important AMECO jurisdictions. The republic has the highest number of department and lawyer rankings of any African country. It is also third in the list when considering the overall number of AMECO department rankings (behind Israel and the UAE), and it is second only to Israel if we look at the overall number of ranked lawyers. Maintaining a strong understanding the dynamics of this market is therefore crucial for our analysis of Africa as a whole.

The South African market is dominated by the traditional ‘Big 5’ law firms, a group comprising Bowmans, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, ENSafrica, Webber Wentzel and Werksmans. Each of these law firms has a long history, but over the past decade they have firmly established themselves as strong regional players outside their home market. This is illustrated by the list of winners at the 2024 Chambers Africa Awards, where Bowmans scooped up the award for Tanzania Law Firm of the Year and ENSafrica took home the award for Mauritius.

We continue to see significant potential to deepen our coverage of lawyers and law firms in South Africa. One area that is ripe for more expansive rankings is our coverage of South African advocates. As with many Commonwealth jurisdictions, the legal profession in South Africa is split between attorneys (who provide advice direct to the client) and advocates (who represent the client in court). This split mirrors that between solicitors and barristers in England & Wales. Currently, we note the leading South African advocates in a spotlight table within South Africa Dispute Resolution.

We welcome submissions from advocates’ groups in future rounds of research. If you have questions or feedback on this aspect of our South Africa rankings, please feel free to get in touch with me at [email protected].

In terms of practice areas, our South Africa coverage is already highly comprehensive. The 2024 guide will include separate rankings for South Africa Private Equity for the first time, distinguishing this expertise from broader know-how in Corporate/M&A. Looking ahead, we have identified a number of law firms operating at the midmarket level which we feel are strong prospects for future rankings. These practices may be smaller, and focused more on domestic work, but those factors alone are certainly no barrier to entry in the ranking tables and we look forward to championing their talent at future guide launches.

2024 may well prove a turning point for the South African market. The country faces an election in May, with incumbent president Cyril Ramaphosa seeking a second term in office. Ramaphosa represents the African National Congress (ANC), which has held power in South Africa since Nelson Mandela’s landmark 1994 election win. Yet the sources we spoke to suggested this would be the first election since that momentous day where the ANC is unlikely to win a majority and will probably be forced into a coalition with one or more other parties. As reported in Reuters, some analysts even see a risk that the ANC will lose outright.

Recent years have seen mounting dissatisfaction with the ANC among South Africa’s electorate. The reason for this are multiple, and range from the corruption allegations faced by former president Jacob Zuma to the government’s failure to keep up with the country’s energy demands, resulting in continuing rolling blackouts (or ‘loadshedding’). Critics also point to the country’s rising unemployment and crime rates, and a poor exchange rate against the US dollar.

On the international stage, South Africa has increasingly found itself at odds with the West. It has attempted to retain a neutral stance towards Russia following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, remembering Soviet support for the anti-apartheid movement. In early 2023, it was reported that the South African navy was taking part in a joint military exercise with the navies of Russia and China, while the country was also at the centre of a diplomatic fracas concerning US allegations that it intended to supply arms to Russia. More recently, South Africa has drawn attention for bringing an ICJ case against Israel over its conduct of the war against Hamas.

Against this backdrop, the individuals we spoke to anticipated many deals remaining ‘on pause’ until after the election, with investors exercising caution in light of the country’s foreign policy stances and various domestic challenges. One source highlighted that deal activity has not yet recovered to levels seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with disputes work being the biggest earner for many major law firms.

Another significant area of work is projects and energy. With the State struggling to create enough energy to meet the country’s needs, there are a number of investors both willing and able to take matters into their own hands. As one source said: “There’s been a significant push from the private sector to plug the energy gap.” Another interviewee agreed that “energy is the biggest focus for everyone at the moment.”

Tying in with global trends, and although the coal industry is still very much still central to South Africa’s current energy output, many of the country’s most recent energy projects reflect an industry-wide shift towards renewables. It should also be noted that the government recently unveiled plans for a new nuclear energy IPP, with the prevailing view among those we spoke to in Johannesburg being that these plans will receive regulatory approval, meaning construction of the nuclear plant will go ahead.

Either way, it seems clear that energy deals will represent a significant amount of the work we see on Chambers submissions in the years to come.

Diversity is a core company value at Chambers and Partners. We are proud to celebrate the achievements of lawyers globally, and all research analysts receive in-depth training on issues such as unconscious bias. Such issues have a strong imperative in a jurisdiction such as South Africa, with the legacy of the country’s apartheid regime continuing to be felt in day-to-day life.

As mentioned earlier in this article, 2024 marks 30 years since Nelson Mandela’s landmark election win. Conscious of this fact, we are aware that there is now a whole generation of young black lawyers coming of age in their professional careers, for whom apartheid is thankfully something of which they have no direct memory.

At the present time the majority of lawyers ranked in our South Africa tables are white. This reflects South Africa’s history, with the market’s most experienced and knowledgeable individuals also being those who have had the benefits of a top-tier education during the apartheid years. It is inevitable that the balance of ethnicities reflected in our rankings will change over time to be more directly reflective of the country’s population. However, the research team is committed to doing everything we can to give prominence to the growing number of hugely talented black lawyers already doing fantastic work in the market.

More than one law firm highlighted to me the relatively low percentage of black lawyers in our current South Africa rankings, for which I am grateful. Mindful of affinity bias, and the fact that the majority of our researchers are white (reflecting the make-up of the UK population), we have decided to look carefully at the lawyers we offer interviews to in 2024, with the aim of achieving 50/50 parity in ethnicity in the coming years. This approach has already been taken for several years in regard to gender, and we have seen the steady growth in representation of women lawyers as a result.

In South Africa alone, we have seen a steady growth in the number of ranked female lawyers, from 58 in Global 2015 to an all-time high of 142 in Global 2024. This figure still only represents 27.3% of the Chambers-ranked South African lawyers, which is well short of the 50% gender equity target for the global legal profession. Nevertheless, it is a marked increase from the 18.4% seen back in Global 2015. Among the 142 ranked women lawyers, there are three new Band 1 rankings in Chambers Global 2024. These have been given to Webber Wentzel’s Khurshid Fazel and Sally Hutton in Banking & Finance and Private Equity respectively, as well as to Werksmans’ Wendy Rosenberg in Media & Broadcasting. Terry Winstanley also maintains her long-standing ranking as a Star Individual in South Africa Environment, and recently received an Outstanding Contribution honour at the 2024 Chambers Africa Awards.

One thing that was heartening to see during our research trip was just how strong the Chambers brand has become within South Africa. A representative from one law firm observed:

A lawyer at another ranked law firm agreed, telling us that:

Another source praised:

These words are an enormous affirmation of the hard work and effort that goes into every edition of Chambers. I am very proud of the analysis and interviews undertaken by our research team, but also mindful of the weight of responsibility on the ranking decisions that we make.

We hope that 2024 brings positive developments for the South African economy and its population. Equally, we look forward to reviewing the submissions for Chambers Global 2025 and seeing the further growth and development of this most fascinating of markets.