My job never gets stale...

Ayesha Johaar is the first woman to serve as the acting chief state law adviser in the country. Her department has to ensure that all bills passed through Parliament are constitutionally sound.

Having a woman at the head of this office has brought a brand-new perspective to government.

“A woman’s perspective is extremely different from a man’s, and if what we do in any way influences the laws that get accessed by the Parliament of the republic and get initiated by the national government, I think we are the better for it,” she says.

Johaar was completing her schooling at the dawn of democracy. She saw that law was a way to contribute to the new South Africa and decided to pursue it as a career.

“If there was a generation before mine that dedicated their life to secure a democracy, I thought that the rest of us would then be called upon to serve and maintain this democracy,” she says.  Since 1999 she has worked in government. Her work entails that the provisions of the Constitution are respected and implemented to their fullest.

Johaar says her job has been fulfilling and requires her to constantly learn about new judgements, which keeps her on her toes at all times. She says in order for her to contribute either to an amendment of a law, a rewrite or a change, or even just to advise government on their application, she has to know what the courts have said very recently about these acts.

“I can’t possibly be satisfied that the work that I have done is accurate in real time and responsive to the needs of government, so it requires a lot of self-discipline, but my job never gets stale.”

Johaar has also fostered a culture of mentorship in her office and takes a particular interest in younger women and women who deal with adversities. She says she does this because she knows it can be done — and because she has encountered many such battles in her own career.

— Rumana Akoob

Instagram: @ayeshajohaar