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1 | P a g e
South Africa’s Largest Law Student Organization.
National Newsletter of the BLA Student Chapter
August/October 2015 Edition
FREE ISSUE
2 | P a g e
South Africa’s Largest Law Student Organization.
Inaugural BLA Student Chapter National
Newsletter
BLASC: ALUTA CONTINUA Introduction
Of the Many resolutions passed at our recent
National General Meeting in Johannesburg, there
was the unequivocal cry for constant
communication between the National Executive
Committee and Branches hence there was a
unanimous decision from the house that we must
have a newsletter.
The 2014/15 NEC introduces the first ever
National newsletter of the Black Lawyers
Association Student Chapter. We accordingly
name it “BLASC-Aluta Continua” to distinguish it
from branch newsletters and it is our wish that
there is an issue every month in order to keep
members updated and also galvanise interest
within the organization.
The phrase “Aluta Continua” has a deep historical
meaning within our organization, as it was once
the title for the BLA Motherbody newsletter with
the same title.
In this issue we will be featuring our power
woman from the profession to coincide with the
recent women’s month celebrations and also
giving information with regards to our upcoming
events and all other activities we are currently
engaged, we hope you enjoy this new journey
with us.
Furthermore we have surprises, farewells and
intellectually stimulating content for our
members. This initiative could help grow our
organization as a brand, it is implemented with
the vision that one day it becomes a vehicle for
advertising Articles of clerkship to it partnering
with prominent textbook publishers in order for
the student chapter to generate its own income.
The largest law student organization in the
Republic of South Africa stamps its authority in
this exciting, radical and black and proud format.
This is whole new interesting interactive
platform between member and leadership past
and present. We invite to our journey in the
quest for transformation of legal education,
Aluta Continua has arrived!
Power Woman:
Advocate Nana Makhubela SC
Our Power woman in this month’s issue to
commemorate the month of August is Adv. Nana
Makhubela SC, the current Chairperson of the
Pretoria Bar. She will be interviewed by our own
power woman Deputy President Ms Thandeka
Mpanza. The two women go head to head in a
once in a lifetime discussion that is surely to
inspire our aspirant female lawyers across the
Republic of South Africa
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South Africa’s Largest Law Student Organization.
National Deputy President of the Black Lawyers Association
Student Chapter: Ms Thandeka Mpanza
Adv. Nana Makhubela SC’s profile and
Background:
TINTSWALO ANNAH NANA MAKHUBELE;
Born on 02 April 1964 at Johannesburg and grew
up at Thalibedzi (now known as Gandlanani)
Settlement, under Chief Hlaneki in the erstwhile
Gazankulu Homeland. Matriculated at Giyani
High in 1980. She obtained a degree of Bachelor
of Arts in Social Work from the University of the
North (Turfloop), now re-named University of
Limpopo.
She subsequently embarked on a career as a
social worker between 1984-1988 whilst
studying towards an LLB degree with University
of South Africa (UNISA), she eventually resigned
as a social worker to pursue full-time law studies
in 1989 and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws
(LLB, 1989 Curriculum) from the University of the
Witwatersrand (WITS) in 1992.
She started working as a Public Prosecutor at
Giyani Magistrate Court in 1992 until 1996 when
she transferred to the Office of the Master of the
High Court, Pretoria where she held the position
of Assistant Master of the High Court until 1999.
She later joined the Pretoria Society of Advocates
(Pretoria Bar ) as a pupil member in February
1999 and took chambers in July 1999. She is a
trained mediator and serves in the panel of
mediators and arbitrators of the Arbitration
Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA), Pretoria.
She was recommended for conferment of SILK
(SC) status in October 2012 by the Pretoria Bar.
She is a Senior Counsel (SC) , the status having
been conferred by the President of the Republic
of South Africa by letters patent dated 16
September 2014.
Amongst many of her achievements she has had
the privilege of acting as a Judge of the High
Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria)
since 2013. She is an Executive Committee
member of the General Council of the Bar (GCB):
2013/2014 and was appointed Assistant
Honorary Secretary in 2014 and was appointed
Chairperson of the Tax Board for the hearing of
Income Tax Appeals in terms of the Tax
Administration Act, No. 28 of 2011 by the
Minister of Finance on 19 August 2013.
Advocate Nana Makhubela was appointed to
serve in the Minister of Environmental Affairs’
Panel of Environmental Mediators and
Arbitrators in terms of Chapter 4 of the National
Environmental Management Act (NEMA) on 01
October 2014 and was elected Chairperson of the
Pretoria Society of Advocates (known as Pretoria
Bar) for 2015/2016.
During the years 2015/2016, Adv. Makhubela SC
was elected Deputy Chairperson of the
Advocates for Transformation, Pretoria Branch.
She was also appointed Chairperson of the Water
Tribunal by the Minister of Water and Sanitation
from June 2015 for an indefinite period.
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South Africa’s Largest Law Student Organization.
Interview with our National Deputy President
Ms Thandeka Mpanza
TM: What challenges were you faced whilst
while studying towards your law degree?
Adv. Makhubela SC: I left my children under the
care of my mother to pursue fulltime legal
studies. Naturally, I thought I worried about their
wellbeing. Fortunately, they were in good hands.
Lack of financial resources was of course a
biggest challenge. I was better off than most
students because I had a bursary from the
Gazankulu Government that paid for the basics.
TM: What influenced your decision to study law
and subsequently to become a lawyer?
Adv. Makhubela SC: I first heard about law /
lawyers in my first year at high school (Form 1).
We were required to choose one elective subject
amongst 3; Geography, History and Latin. I chose
the latter. Mrs. Ntsanwisi, the wife of the then
Prime Minister taught this subject. She explained
to us that Latin was a requirement if we wanted
to become lawyers. Although I never heard of, let
alone knew any lawyer, l fell in love with this idea
of becoming a lawyer. Unfortunately the subject
was discontinued in the next level. My dream to
become a lawyer did not die.
After Matric, I studied Social Work, not because I
wanted to or even knew what it was all about,
but because there was a readily available
Government bursary for anyone who wanted to
study this course.
After graduating, I enrolled for part-time studies
towards an LLB degree with the University Of
South Africa (UNISA). I managed to obtain at least
two credits per year. This was before the LLB
curriculum was shortened. I calculated my
options after realizing that realistically, it was
going to take me at least eight years to obtain the
degree. I resigned as a Social Worker to pursue
full time legal studies.
TM: What challenges have you faced since
entering the legal fraternity?
Adv. Makhubela SC: Access to work is the biggest
challenge. I come from Giyani in Limpopo. When
I joined the Pretoria Bar, I did not know any firm
of attorneys. We were advised to introduce
ourselves to the office of the State Attorney. It
took time before I could get a brief from
government. Having rendered services, does not
guarantee payment. Some attorneys take a long
time to pay fees.
In the meantime, I had bar fees to pay and
children to support.
Over the years, the flow of work from the State
Attorney increased, though not as expected or as
it should be. There is lack of support from private
law firms, even those that are owned by women
or where women are directors or associates.
As a Senior Counsel, one is expected to mentor,
impart one’s knowledge, skill and expertise on to
junior practitioners. Good quality work that can
enable one to do this is hard to come by, even
from government, which has a mandate to
transform the legal profession.
TM: The number of women in decision-making
positions remains low across Africa, despite
making some progress. What do you think can be
changed in order to increase women’s
representation and what do you think is the most
significant barrier to female leadership?
Adv. Makhubela SC: Women need to change
their attitudes first before expecting others to
change their attitudes about them. We need to
take initiatives. Support each other. Mentor each
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other. Build networks and foster good relations
amongst each other.
TM: What is the best and worst decision you've
ever made?
Adv. Makhubela SC: I think resigning from Social
Work to pursue my dream (legal studies) was the
best decision I ever made. I cannot think of any
worst decision I have made thus far.
TM: What kind of woman inspires you and why?
Adv. Makhubela SC: A woman like my mother.
She has no formal education, but has always
preached the benefits of education to me from a
young age.
TM: What will be the biggest challenge for the
generation of women behind you?
Adv. Makhubela SC: In my view, the generation
of women behind me is most likely to face the
same challenges as my generation, and the one
behind me. Some challenges appear to have
been lessened by empowerment and other
Constitutional legislation. Implementation is a
problem though.
The reality is that women’s struggles are not
time-based. Discrimination on the basis of
gender, lack of support from fellow women,
sexual harassment, lack of confidence from
clients, male colleagues, etc. These are common
challenges that women lawyers face throughout
the world.
Black Lives Matter Movement We will be featuring global articles each month
which are revolutionary relevant and it is only
fitting in our first issue that we feature a
revolutionary movement that has captivated the
entire world, which is the Black Lives Matter
Campaign movement which has captivated the
world.
Protestors of the Black Lives Matter Movement
This month we feature an article from Darnell
Moore. Darnell L. Moore is a writer and activist
whose work is informed by anti-racist, feminist,
queer of colour, and anti-colonial thought and
advocacy;
The unsettling image of the lifeless body of 18-
year-old Mike Brown, the unarmed teen shot six
times by Officer Darren Wilson, which laid
prostrate before family and neighbours for hours
in a pool of blood in the sweltering summer heat
in Ferguson, MO, will surely haunt the collective
conscious of the US for years to come.
Mike Brown’s murder, and the brutalizing way his
killing was turned into a public spectacle, has
much to do with the ways Black lives are literally
and symbolically devalued in neighborhoods
throughout the US. The image of his lifeless body
publicly displayed on the street is a heartrending
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reminder that Black bodies in the US are
rendered valueless—so much so that even in
death, particularly the kind sanctioned by the
state, Black people, like Mike Brown and his
family, are not afforded the right to humane
treatment.
When commenting on the demographic changes
in Ferguson for CNN, Beryl Satter, author of
Family Properties: How the Struggle Over Race
and Real Estate Transformed Chicago and Urban
America, noted, “This is what happens when you
have massive racial change in a community and
the power structure remains in the hands of
whites and the police force acts as this sort of
mediating force between the white power
structure and what is now a black community and
has very little empathy or knowledge about that
community.”
Ferguson, like many municipalities across the US,
has experienced a dramatic shift in its racial
composition. The municipality of roughly 21,000,
which, according to the US Census, was
comprised of a majority White populace (73.8%)
in 1990, is now home to a majority Black
populace (67.4%). Ferguson, thus, is more than
the subject of a black teen’s death. It is the
product of over five decades of “white flight.”
Changes in the racial composition of towns
precipitate changes in the ways Black bodies are
policed and valued in many neighborhoods. Anti-
blackness—as evidenced through the enactment
of inequitable laws, discriminatory policing
practices, and economic exploitation
disproportionately impacting Black people—is
one of the threads that connects an individual
tragedy, like Mike Brown’s death, to the broader
structural issues of White racial supremacy,
global capitalism, and gentrification impacting
Black people and the working poor to middle
class communities they hail from across the US.
Black lives and White lives are differently valued
and are, therefore, differently impacted under
the conditions of White racial supremacy across
the country.
My brief time in Ferguson prompted me to
consider the many ways Mike Brown’s death, and
life, was warped by the structural conditions
mentioned above—all emanating from what
scholar George Lipsitz aptly calls the “possessive
investment in whiteness.” Such investments in
whiteness, which impacts everything from access
to housing markets to points of educational
access for Black people within communities
across the country, must also be considered
alongside the mundane incidents of police
violence and hyper criminalization in the US.
Black death at the hands of the state is a
consequence of the precarious structural
conditions restricting Black life from Ferguson to
Flatbush, Brooklyn. Flatbush is the neighborhood
where 16-year-old Kimani Gray was shot and
killed by NYPD in March 2013. I live a short
distance from Flatbush, in neighboring Bed-Stuy.
Unlike Ferguson, which was a predominantly
White space that experienced a decrease in its
White populace, traditional black neighborhoods
like Bed-Stuy are now experiencing an increase in
its White populace.
Bed-Stuy is evidence that the investment in
whiteness and divestment in blackness shapes
the conditions in which Black bodies engage, and
are engaged in, geographical spaces. White
bodies in Bed-Stuy now seemingly signals safety
and welcome, which is to say: White folk who
would not otherwise perceive “Do or Die Bed-
Stuy” as safe and welcoming begin to finally
perceive it as such because of the presence of
other White people. Race shapes perceptions of
space.
The problem with this misperception has less to
do with the brutal truth that Black spaces like
Bed-Stuy or Ferguson are typically deemed “the
hood,” as spaces that lack or are wholly violent
until White folk increasingly begin trekking into,
or back into, the very communities many people,
white/black/brown/otherwise, imagined as
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South Africa’s Largest Law Student Organization.
terrifying. The more insidious problem is the
belief that whiteness at all times and in all places
signifies safety and bounty and, therefore,
represents a site of investment: new stores
selling expensive items begin emerging; the same
stores stay open (the doors and not just side
windows) twenty-four hours; realtors finally
begin to take an interest in property sales;
nameless and faceless “investors” begin leaving
cheap flyers on stoops or in mailboxes promising
cash for homes. Safety becomes a relative
experience when gentrification occurs. The
presence of White people almost always
guarantees the increased presence of resources,
like police, which does not always guarantee
safety for Black people in those same spaces.
And here is what distinguishes the movement of
White people into Black and Brown spaces from
the movement of Black gentrifiers into those
same spaces. Those Black folk, like me, who are
afforded the privilege of choosing some of the
locations we live are still considered valueless
bodies in the same spaces we gentrify. Our
presence does not always bring healthy food
stores, cute eateries, and hospitable police; on
the contrary, we are embattled by the very
structural forces of White racial supremacy and
capitalism that actually benefit White gentrifiers.
And some of us might easily be stopped by police,
harassed, or even shot whether we appear
respectable or not in those same spaces.
So, if we are to ensure the end of state-
sanctioned violence against Black people, we
must be ready to think through and redress the
socioeconomic and class underpinnings of anti-
blackness and White racial supremacy. Until we
do, whether we are bodies left to die without
compassion in the streets or bodies read as
deficits in communities across the US, Black
people will continue to be treated as something
other than human as whiteness continues to
function as a sign for possession and asset.
This article was originally published at truth-
out.org
Our question for our readers do you think that
given the rise of service delivery and other wage
negotiation related protests, is time to Advance
the Black Lives Matter movement in our own
country given the mass killings and injury of
protestors by the Law Enforcement? (E.g. the
Miners of Marikana, Andries Tatane, the Miners
of Mapela)
(Your Article should include reference to laws
governing protest action in our country and
illustrate by application of law whether or not
there was any legal justification on the side of
Law Enforcement in their use of Force and how
such incidents could be avoided in the future)
The Rhodes Must Fall Campaign
Student Activists of the Rhodes must fall campaign. Image by
EWN
The Rhodes Must fall movement in South Africa
has changed the landscape of Student Activism in
South Africa forever. It is by far the loudest cry
from the African Child demanding
transformation. The Black Lawyers Association
Student Chapter was vocal in its support of the
campaign at the University of Cape Town, we
subsequently agreed with the call for “Rhodes
Must Fall Everywhere” campaign and voiced our
solidarity with organizations and other entities
which share common interests. The movement
has once again risen at Rhodes University and
Stellenbosch University, We have committed to
source Legal Practitioners from the ranks of our
motherbody to protect the interests of students
engaged in protest action in order to avoid the
autocratic tendencies of University Management
in expelling or suspending student activists
without due legal processes adhered to. It is our
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view that all protests action by student activists
must be within the ambit of the law and we will
be playing advisory role when requested to do so.
This month we feature a transcript of UCT
President Ramabina Mahapa’s Speech on the
occasion of the falling of the Cecil Rhodes Statue:
“Greetings to the Vice-Chancellor Dr Max Price,
chairperson of UCTABA Western Cape Advocate
Rod Solomons, Dr Iqbal Survé, Dr Shose Kessi and
the audience at large.
As I was thinking about what to say tonight, I
came to a realisation that I need to focus on part
of the cause of the black man's plight and not the
symptoms. And I want to have a frank discussion.
We find ourselves at a time at UCT where
students are no longer complaining and sitting
down on their buttocks talking of transformation.
Students have risen up and taken the hefty
burden of bringing about radical and progressive
change to the institution. Martin Luther King Jr
said that "the hottest place in hell is reserved for
those who remain neutral in times of great moral
conflict."
The students have decided to speak out. What
about yourselves?
Are you going to commence with your life's quest
to maximise utility as a consumer and economic
profit as a producer? Are you willing to sacrifice
your privilege and join the clarion call evoked by
students, and stand with us in saying 'no more,
we cannot breathe in this space'? Whites
continue to use their positions of privilege to
create a socio-political quagmire such that the
blacks fight among themselves. The new
generation has been bamboozled into believing
that the government, led by African National
Congress, is the problem.
Undeniably, the ANC is liable for some of the
challenges facing the black masses. But the black
folk's problem is still chiefly the potency of
whiteness. In the new democratic dispensation,
we have only been concerned with the 'rainbow
nation' rhetoric and singing kumbaya while our
economy still reflects the same socio-economic
disparities of the apartheid era. Democracy has
granted a few blacks seats at the master's table;
the rest are still fighting over breadcrumbs falling
off the table. And it is these few and mostly
politically connected 'privileged' blacks who
assist their white masters in maintaining the
status quo.
Whites have not even begun to see blacks as
equals and as being capable of thinking for
themselves. They continually want to have a say
in how we break the shackles of oppression
administered and maintained by them. They cry
foul as soon as blacks start organising and
speaking for themselves. Deep down they
understand that they stand to lose their
privileges. The white liberal has continued to play
a rather peculiar role in the oppression of the
black masses, his racist and conservative ways
continue to be shielded in his subtle and 'angelic'
approach. It is the white liberal who is at the
forefront of spreading the gospel of integration
and a peaceful society. White liberals point
towards white conservatives as the problem, and
they have convinced themselves that they have
arrived at enlightenment pertaining to the sins
committed by their forefathers. Yet
subconsciously they share the same set of values
and desire to protect their privileges.
The ideology and culture of formerly 'whites only'
spaces has still not changed. What has taken
place is that blacks can now access those spaces
of learning and living in order to immerse
themselves in a western culture. Thus, for the
blacks to enjoy the benefits of accessing those
places they have to integrate into whiteness. Our
integration is nothing but black people
assimilating to what is still regarded as righteous,
ordained, intelligent, beautiful and angelic
whiteness.
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It is a matter of fact that integration has
benefited whites as opposed to blacks. Those
blacks that now sit at the same table with whites,
have had to rid themselves of their languages,
cultures and overall sense of self and so have lost
more than they will ever gain.
The so-called integration in South Africa has
given blacks a false sense of hope and belonging
that leads them to misdiagnose the cause of their
plight. It cannot be the case that, in this day and
age, blacks are still seen as merely appendages to
a white society. How is it that we have become
content with a university like UCT that has six
permanent, full-time African professors and only
five permanent, full-time coloured professors?
Associate Professor Xolela Mangcu wrote that
the number of black South African academic staff
at UCT in 2013 was 48 out of a total of 1405, this
is only 3%.
How can we remain content with such statistics?
Our present day society, deeply rooted in
capitalist values and ideals, is characterised by
gross poverty, deaths from preventable diseases,
corruption and starvation. We have machinery
that gives abundance and a rich earth that
provides abundantly, but many are still in need.
More than intelligence we need compassion,
love and humanity.
Our path leads only to despondency and
destitution; is dystopia the end we seek? May the
hour come upon us where we suspend our
egoistic attitudes and dedicate ourselves to
eradicating poverty and inequality. We have got
to realign our ends to a commitment to a better
life for all.
Freedom is not having the opportunity to be
white or to live like whites. It is the right to self-
determination and a dignified life.
It must be known that what is taking place is only
the beginning. Blacks must fathom the fact that
whites have still remained in positions of power.
We therefore need to consolidate our power and
break the resistance of the white community in
trying to preserve the status quo. Blacks need to
rally behind dismantling white supremacy to its
very core.
It is always us blacks wanting to reconcile, to
forgive and forget while white folks stand on the
side lines, enjoying their privilege. No matter
how much flowery language you may employ to
conceal the truth, the reality is that it is the
whites who have reaped the benefits of our
negotiated democracy, blacks have gotten a raw
deal. We are murdered in plain daylight for
demanding a decent living wage from white
capitalists and nothing is done about it.
It is saddening to see institutions of higher
learning - the likes of the University of Cape Town
- being the hub of massive creation of non-whites
(blacks who worship at the altar of whiteness).
UCT's environment propagates uncle toms (ie
black liberals) who will take every opportunity to
ridicule blacks who speak of the problem of
racism; they claim that class is the issue. The
majority of our people are not fooled by this
facade of lies - our struggles is not simply class
antagonisms. Liberal institutions are the factories
that offer blacks who aspire to be white, despite
their pigmentation, an opportunity to do so.
Blacks are being dangled a carrot like a donkey -
with the perception of change in sight, yet never
reaching the end result. Black folks must rid
themselves of the ulcer called assimilation; we
need to eliminate the need to assimilate in any
way, shape or form to whiteness because we are
perpetuating our own oppression and the
destruction of our humanity. Unity amongst
blacks is a necessary first step and the goal is self-
determination towards the creation of an
independent African society.”
This Month we are asking our members how the
BLA Student Chapter can play a more meaningful
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South Africa’s Largest Law Student Organization.
role within this area of Student Activism. How
can we structure our Branches to give
preliminary legal advice to student activists to
avoid them getting expelled or suspended in the
fight for transformation?
Articles from our Motherbody
The Secretary General of the BLA Mr LB Sigogo with members
of the National Executive Committee of the BLA Student
Chapter at the National General Meeting of the BLA
Motherbody earlier this year in Rustenburg
Truth be told:
An article on the Legal Practice Act by the
Secretary General of the BLA Motherbody Mr LB
Sigogo.
The truth must be told.
The LPA 28 of 2014 has ushered in a totally new
dispensation in our profession. It deviated
drastically from the 1979 Act discourse. The most
visible changes brought by the LPA are that:-
1. The profession will be unified;
2. There will be one Council;
3. There will be Ombud;
4. There could be lay people in the regulation of
the profession;
5. LPC is meant to protect the interests of public;
and
6. The LPC is purely regulatory; (just to name a
few)
What does not obviously appear is that:-
1. The LPA does not address the marketing of the
profession;
2. The interests of the profession are secondary,
otherwise are not protected at all;
3. Under the new dispensation there will be no
AGMs as LPC does not have members as is the
position in the current situation (All Legal
Practitioners are subject to the LPC as are tax
payers to SARS);
4. There is no voice of the profession, currently
the LSSA is a voice of the organised attorney’s
profession. Having said that, even now we do not
have one voice as a legal profession because
attorneys and advocates have different
formations, worst still, advocates have many
tongues (GCB, National Council bar and many
more); and
5. LPC does not have locus standi to affiliate to
associations like SADCLA, PALU, CLA and other
international bodies like NBA and IBA;
6. LPC will not be in a position to recommend
placement of practitioners in boards like, SABC,
ESKOM, HOUSING, BUILT ENVIRONMENT, etc.,
this is the function of the organised profession.
In short what I have highlighted above is that the
LPC has left behind the trade union function
which the current law societies have.
This omission is the catalyst of the debate of
whether there should be formation of a non-
regulatory body or not. If not how do we soldier
on? What should be the fate of the LSSA? Has
LSSA lived its full shelf life? Do we disband it? Do
we evolve it? What should happen to its assets?
This is the debate which, I believe, should be led
by BLA. Mind you BLA championed the demise of
ALS when the LSSA came into being. It will be a
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very sad day if BLA of today does not see a role
which it must play and it becomes a spectator in
some other people’s game. It cannot be correct
that BLA leaders, should today, be asking
questions in respect of formation of a non-
regulatory body in light of the above summation
and the fact that the President report of October
2014 addressed the same issue. I should also
remind those of you who attended the NWC
meeting of the 19th March 2015 that this matter
was raised and it was emphasised that BLA
should give direction to this project.
We must indeed direct this project.
I Propose that we identify members who should
draw a document laying out a map on how the
legal profession should organise itself beyond or
outside the LPC and/or the LPA.
I subscribe to the belief that good will prevail
over evil.
If the devil is in the detail I should not let others
design the detail for me.
I thank you.
LB Sigogo
You are invited to write comments about the
above article and also you may submit your own
article on the Legal Practice Act, specifically
discuss sections 24 up until Section 29 which
inter alia govern and regulate the Entry to the
Legal Profession by an LLB Graduate.
Law Student Problems
We received a letter from our Ex Officio NEC
Member Mr Edzisani Matodzi highlighting the
challenges facing LLB Graduates serving article,
the letter highlights the following:
“The Candidate Attorney Went to Law School and
thus his contract of Articles is about 12 months,
however the CA has been waiting for over 4
weeks for his Right of Appearance. He is worried
about what he can learn in just 10 Months”
Given the above stated story, you are invited to
write an article on how the process of receiving
your right of appearance can be improved.
Readers are invited to submit in writing any
challenge they are facing at University or Post
Graduation and we will feature them in our
monthly newsletter in order to open up a
National Dialogue in coming with solutions to our
everyday challenges
Reminders Vacation Work Document:’
The Honourable President of the Black Lawyers
Association Student Chapter Mr. Nape Masipa
wrote a communique to branches heading into
the National General Meeting that all Branches
must submit their vacation work databases and
all other relevant documents in order for the
organization to have on uniform National
Database to assist in the placement of students
for vacation work.
The Legal Education Centre has also come on
board to assist us with the vacation work
programme, however it is with great
disappointment that branches have not complied
with the President’s request. We therefore are
once more asking branches to submit the
following:
A list of their partner law firms and other
stakeholders who assist with the
placement and intake of Law Students
for both June and December Vacations
A comprehensive database of the
number of students each branch has
managed to place for the recent
vacation work programme
A document outlining challenges each
branch faces with regards to the
vacation work programme
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South Africa’s Largest Law Student Organization.
Any other suggestions from branches as
to how the vacation work programme
can be improved
Branches are urged to send in official organizational
correspondence via the Secretary General Mr N
Tovhakale’s office
Constitutional Matters
Members will recall that branch delegates
resolved that all proposed motions pertaining to
constitutional amendments would be shelved
and the process would take a virtual format (i.e.
each branch would email a document discussing
the said proposed constitutional amendments
and the NEC would from each branch’s
submission draft a singular draft document which
would then be proposed to congress for
amendment and ratification purposes).
Again, the NEC has disappointingly not received
such documents. We must emphasise the
importance of such documents heading into the
Annual General Meeting
Discussion Documents:
A discussion document on the language policy of
board exams and the profession in general was
proposed to Congress at the Previous National
General Meeting by the office of our National
President. To date Branches have been silent on
the matter, we cannot over emphasise the
importance of this matter which has since taken
the Nation at large with the recent Luister
documentary which documents an entrenched
Afrikaner Culture in our Previously white
institutions of Higher Learning
Upcoming Events
Annual General Meeting Proposed solidarity march:
The BLA Student Chapter will be having its gala
dinner on the 2nd of October 2015 at the Nelson
Mandela Metropolitan University. We have since
proposed a solidarity march with the Black
Students Movement at Rhodes University to
show our Support for their course in advancing
transformation at their campus. We will issue
further communication in due course
Gala Dinner
In keeping up with our “Trend-setters” motto,
the BLA Student Chapter will be hosting a gala
dinner the night before our Annual General
Meeting. More information will be released in
due course
Award Ceremony
Another Innovation we will be introducing this
year will be an award ceremony in honour of our
branches and their respective leaders for their
exemplary efforts this year. Each branch will
receive a certificate of recognition from the NEC.
Categories:
Branch of the year:
This award goes to the branch that has been a cut
above the rest this year, taking into consideration
their vibrancy, reports, activities and general
innovativeness in the branch:
Nominees
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan
University Branch
University of Free State Branch
UNISA Florida Branch
University of Johannesburg Branch
UNISA Johannesburg
Most Improved Branch of the Year:
University of Venda Branch
University of the Western Cape Branch
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South Africa’s Largest Law Student Organization.
Newcomer of the year Award:
Rhodes University Branch
UNISA Florida
Chairperson of the Year Award:
Edmund Ramaholi (UOFS)
Clemond Malatji (UL)
Keneilwe (NMMU)
Luyolo Mahambehlala (UWC)
Rutendo Chapwanya (UJ)
Thato Sethe (UNISA Florida)
Sibusiso Sirenqe (University of the North
West)
Lebona Makhele (UNISA JHB)
Female Leader of the Year Award:
Keneilwe Nkholi (NMMU)
Andricia Hinckerman (UOFS)
Rutendo Chapwanya (UJ)
Hlologelo Kgasago (UL)
Mandisa Cele (UNIZULU)
Guidelines:
Branches are requested to send in a list of all
their preferred winners in each category to the
emails provided at the end if this newsletter on
or before the 21st of September 2015.
BLA Student Chapter Stalwart Award:
Mr. William Maodi
Founding BLA Student Chapter Mr William Maodi
This is the only award category that has a clear
winner. It is only fitting that we honour our
Founding National President Mr William Maodi
who in his time as National President of the
Student Chapter advocated amongst many things
that the Student Chapter be allowed to vote in
the Elections of the Motherbody, we were given
only one vote and the National President of the
Student Chapter sits as an Ex officio member of
the National Executive Committee. We only got
one vote but it was a hard won vote. A vote which
has since epitomised our resilient nature.
Former President Mr William Maodi has been a
constant feature at all meetings of the BLA
Student Chapter and has always availed himself
in advisory capacity. He is currently serving as
BEC member in the BLA Gauteng Branch his office
dealing with Candidate attorneys and Student
Chapter Affairs. He is an admitted attorney of the
High Court and he is an associate at Maponya
Incorporated based in Pretoria.
Annual General Meeting: Our AGM will be hosted on the 3rd of October
2015 at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan
University in the Eastern Cape. This is an Elective
National Meeting. More information will be sent
out in due course
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South Africa’s Largest Law Student Organization.
Farewell to President Mabunda
Outgoing BLA National President Mr Busani Mabunda
addressing the Delegates at the recent National General
Meeting in Johannesburg
This year we bid farewell to the current
sitting National President of the BLA
Motherbody, Mr Busani Mabunda who
has served two of his terms in office.
President Mabunda has always been an
ever-present figure when it comes to
student chapter matters, this was
epitomized by his breath-taking reply
speech at the recent National General
Meeting of the BLA Student Chapter in
Parktown Johannesburg.
President Mabunda spoke off the cuff on
transformation matters to great applause
from the student delegates. It is uncanny
ability to relate to Student leaders that
has earned him the respect of both
National and Branch based leaders of the
BLA Student Chapter.
We say to him, amongst many of his great
achievements and memories he has whilst
at the helm of the BLA Motherbody,
nurturing a vibrant and organized BLA
Student Chapter should rank right up
there alongside his greatest. We salute
the Honourable President Mabunda and
wish him many more years of great
success after his BLA Presidency.
Trial Advocacy Programme
The Legal Education Centre’s Trial Advocacy Programme
The National Executive Committee of the
BLA Student Chapter Committed that
there will be an up and running trial
advocacy programme at various branches
of the BLA Student Chapter. We are happy
to report to our readers that this is
currently the case and the Legal Education
Centre has visited a few branches to
implement the trial advocacy programme.
We are further pleased to note that the
Legal Education Centre has been giving
law students across the Republic an
opportunity to attend a one in a lifetime
commercial workshop. This affords the
student an opportunity to interact with
advocates and attorneys in the field of
commercial law. Be on the lookout, the
LEC might be visiting your branch next.
Commented [N1]:
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South Africa’s Largest Law Student Organization.
President’s Desk
2014/15 BLA Student Chapter National President: Mr
Nape Masipa
This Newsletter has been a pipeline dream for a
very long time, and I thank the University of
Johannesburg Chairperson Ms Rutendo for
putting immense pressure on my office to get the
process up and running. This is an exciting
innovation which we hope is the beginning of
new organizational culture that will last for many
years to come.
This is a unique platform which allows us to
communicate on a vast number of issues formally
and informally. History will record this National
Executive Committee as a trend setting one, an
NEC which broke barriers in order to stabilize the
organization. I’ve been privileged to have been
given an opportunity to pilot this ever turbulent
ship, however I have always held this
organization to a higher standard, and that is
there’s always room for improvement and there
should be no room for complacency.
I would like to warn against a degree of
complacency and fatigue that always sets in
when the organization is doing well, having
conquered cliffs does not mean that we have
conquered Everest. Ours is a lifetime journey, a
struggle that has been going on for many
decades, the struggle for transformation which
has now captured the imaginations of our nation,
media outlets and has made being a student
activist fashionable. This struggle has been going
on since the births of our Mothers and Fathers,
and fatigue and complacency has as history will
prove set in right at that moment of championing
the struggle.
It is when everyone talks about it that we feel we
are making inroads, it is when statues fall for
some and others grabbing national headlines
that we feel we are championing the struggle-
that fatigue and complacency I speak of. My call
is that we continue rallying under the banner of
transformation, intensify our efforts to occupy
our rightful place in the land of our forefathers.
By this I mean thorough engagement of our
organizational documents, we don’t have to
agree on issues outlined by the authors of these
documents but it is through this very
disagreement and engagement that we refine
our ideas. Ofcourse I am speaking of a discussion
document that was released by my office
heading into the National General Meeting. The
document aimed at tackling the continued
practice of allowing Afrikaans speaking Law
graduates of writing board exams in their primary
languages wherelse we continue to be forced to
write our boards in our secondary and tertiary
languages, this inevitably has a bearing on the
current status quo in our profession of an
entrenched Afrikaans culture in our legal system
wherelse our home languages are left to wither
on the side lines.
The language problem, specifically the use of
Afrikaans is listed as one of the many problems
that where identified by the Founding Chairman
of the BLA Dr. Godfrey Pitje back when he was
still a Candidate Attorney for Oliver Tambo and
Nelson Mandela in the mid-1950s. It is
astonishing that this problem continues to
confront the black lawyer in the year 2015.
We must always remember that the very
formation of the BLA was because of resistance
to injustice within the legal profession. The
stories of how Dr. GM Pitje refused to sit in a seat
reserved for black practitioners during apartheid
need to be told more often, they form the basis
for our activism today, how we react to the
injustices that confront us today is crucial.
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South Africa’s Largest Law Student Organization.
It us up to this organization to champion the
struggle for “African Jurisprudence in our
lifetime”, or else our decedents will, like us
complete life within the profession without ever
coming across the writings by their own people.
White authors will continue to be legal experts at
subjects such African Customary Law whilst we
wither on the side-lines afraid of putting pen to
paper jotting down our ideals and values, the
buck stops with you African Child because no
white man is going to come to your rescue and
advance your calls for transformation, fight off
the fatigue and complacency that has set in and
go an extra mile (Hence I believe that there is no
better name for this newsletter than “Aluta
Continua” we have adopted a namesake of a
similar newsletter of the BLA motherbody that
has since ceased to exist).
Our Founding President Mr William Maodi is
famous for his calls for us to document our ideas
in order for them to form a foundation for the
future office bearers of this organization.
A challenge facing the Black law student today is
gerontocracy (i.e. a system based, not on the
people’s rule, but on the rule of old people
stealing the future from youth). We are faced
with ageism in a profession that is obsessed with
seniority and hierarchy, the ideas of young
lawyers and law students alike do not flourish.
Our calls for the implementation of minimum
wage requirement for Candidate Attorneys Falls
on deaf ears because there a is profit to be made
in our suffering and it is only us that can save us
from our challenges and change the status quo of
black law graduates earning wages which are an
insult to their dignity taking into consideration
their years of studying. Ofcourse this is a two
sided coin in the sense that Black Law firms don’t
have enough resources to pay black law
graduates the minimum wage (be it not all the
time), a dialogue nevertheless needs to be had
on this issue and we must be at the forefront,
championing the interests of the young black
lawyer in our country.
We must also raise important issues like the
ridiculous requirements of some law firms that
require candidate attorneys to have a motor
vehicle, this rule was clearly not made to
accommodate the African Child and we cannot
murmur on the side-lines wherelse there is a
continuation of Job reservation tendencies
within our profession.
Aluta Continua!!!
The Trend-Setting 2014/15 National Executive Committee at its
first NEC meeting early this year in Johannesburg
CONTACT US:
All emails regarding content in the Newsletter must be sent to
[email protected] (Our Secretariat’s office)
Emails regarding suggestions or articles must be sent to
[email protected] (Mrs Talenta Tivana our Media and
Publicists)
National President of the BLA SC, Mr Nape Masipa email at
Visit our Facebook page Black Lawyers Association Student
Chapter NEC 2014/15
Follow us on twitter @BLAscNEC
Donations to the organization:
Banking Details: FNB Business Account no. 62525531613