The jury system relies on a body of sworn laymen who have to render an impartial verdict, but in our sometimes unpredictable country  it makes sense why the Chief Justice has taken this stance.

Unfortunately, as a country we still have unhealed wounds that were inflicted by an era of inequality that can be blamed for a number (and not all) of our present problems.

 It was this segregation that caused South Africans to classify each other by race. This is when white people saw the rest of the population as inferior, and the rest of the population started seeing all white people as oppressors.

Race is one of the reasons why it will be extremely difficult for the various laymen who would form the jury to remain impartial. Whether we like it or not we still judge each other by the colour of our skins, and that is not conducive to a fair trial.

Being a jury member also means that you have to rid yourself of emotional baggage that might influence your decision, which can dramatically change a defendant’s  life.

As an average South African who has been directly or indirectly affected by crime, how are you expected to be impartial when the person being accused  looks like the guy who hijacked your daughter’s car last week, or the lady who swindled you out of your entire pension fund?

Again, due to the unequal way South Africans were treated in the past, there is the composition of the jury itself.

Can an uneducated and unemployed person from a rural area who cannot speak English even begin to convince the CEO of a successful institution why the person on trial is not guilty?

On the other hand, would a jury system not allow ordinary South Africans the chance to play an active role in the justice system?

As citizens we complain so much about absolutely everything, and we are the first to lament just how our judicial system is failing us. At least this way we can be the ones who are, in some way, steering the direction of our country.

The question still remains: will a jury system make our legal system more legitimate, or will it corrupt it further?