"Unfair" is how the Cape Bar Council has described specific racism allegations against its members by Cape High Court Judge President John Hlophe.

The council pointed out that several of the judge president's allegations were based on factually incorrect information and suggested that his report disregarded a "number of positive developments" in the transformation of the Cape Bar.

Describing the appointment of judges as probably the most sensitive issue in the current debate about racism in the judiciary, the council has rejected Judge Hlophe's charge that the bar had never supported a black person for judicial appointment.

The council stated in a report completed last week that it had supported Judge Hlophe's appointment as Deputy Judge President in 1999 and as Judge President in 2000. While supporting the appointment of justices Sandile Ngcobo, Abdul Motala and Shehnaz Meer between 1996 and 2002, the council said, it had also backed several black nominees to the bench and encouraged its own senior black members to make themselves available for appointment to the bench.

"It should also be noted that we have, on a number of occasions, declined to support white nominees who were thought to be unsuitable for appointment," the report added.

The council was adamant that "expression of views concerning the competence of candidates for judicial appointment should not be stifled out of a fear that those questioning the ability of particular candidates will be accused of racism".

It said: "A balance plainly needs to be struck between the need for a demographic shift in the bench's composition and the requirement of sufficient experience and knowledge."

The Bar Council's report will form part of the submissions considered by Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson in his investigation into racism in the judiciary.

Bar Council members specifically accused of racism will be responsible for producing their own responses to the allegations against them.

The Bar Council's report has been endorsed by 12 of the 14 members, with two - Dumisa Ntsebeza and Thabani Masuku - abstaining from the vote to support its submissions.

Ntsebeza resigned from the Bar Council and Advocates for Transformation on the day the report was completed.

In its report, the Bar Council said it was saddened by Judge Hlophe's expressed perception that the Cape Bar "despises black judges" and did not believe that this perspective was justified.

The council said it was unrealistic for any judge not to expect that his or her competence would become a topic of conversation among members of the profession. But the report also noted that the members of the bar needed to "guard against unthinking and unsubstantiated assumptions of incompetence" and should not be dismissive of what they perceived to be judicial inexperience.

The report also acknowledged that the transformation of the bar was far from complete.