By FRANNY RABKIN —

A STORM has erupted about the lack of black counsel in the landmark silicosis class action case against gold mining companies, with the most vociferous criticism coming from black advocates at the Johannesburg Bar.

As the case got under way on Monday there were already mutterings about the fact that out of nearly 40 counsel involved, only three were black while every single senior counsel was white and male. The three teams representing the mineworkers in the case raised eyebrows as they do not have a single black advocate among them. This prompted remarks about the irony of lawyers who fight for the poor and for black people but do not replicate this commitment when hiring in their own practices.

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