1 OCTOBER … · 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 ... The unsettling

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South Africa’s Largest Law Student Organization.

National Newsletter of the BLA Student Chapter

August/October 2015 Edition

FREE ISSUE

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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

[email protected]

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

mailto:[email protected]

