On 30 September 2026, The Namibian published a report titled ‘Namibia produces ‘incompetent lawyers’. We would like to clarify that acting Supreme Court judge Dave Smuts did not mean the country produces incompetent lawyers but rather that the Justice Training Centre needs reform. Smuts says: “I feel the headline of the report suggesting I contend that Namibia produces ‘incompetent lawyers’ does not fairly reflect what I said in context.
True, I said the JTC needs to reform to improve its training.
But it’s another thing to extrapolate from the fact that we as a country are producing incompetent lawyers as a general proposition and present what I said as a general indictment on legal training in Namibia.
“I said on more than one occasion in the course of the evening that Unam’s law faculty is to be congratulated and lauded for its massive role in transforming the legal profession in the country to better represent its demographics.
I specifically commended Unam’s law faculty for its achievements. While I acknowledged the need to improve and reform practical legal training for entrants to the legal profession because recent experience on the bench showed that new entrants were lacking in the requisite skills, this is a far cry from what is projected in your headline, because I do not believe we are as a nation producing incompetent lawyers as a general phenomenon.
“That was not my intention. Nor is it a fair reflection of the overall discussion with students that evening.
But I do believe training needs to be improved markedly.”
The Namibian apologises to Smuts for any inconvenience caused.
