The Black Lawyers Association (BLA) Gauteng Branch hosted a young lawyer’s event in June in Gauteng. The conference was well attended by young members of the BLA, including LLB students from various universities in Gauteng. The keynote address was delivered by the Minister of Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who said the legal professionals have a critical role to play in ensuring that energy systems are not captured by narrow interest but instead serve the public good. ‘If we are to support reindustrialisation and inclusive growth, we must strengthen the legal foundations of the energy system by:
- Establishing rules that ensure fair competition and prevent monopolistic behaviour while promoting investment in generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure.
- Designing pricing and tariff structures that support productive sectors of the economy and reflect the social and economic priorities of the state.
- Ensuring that infrastructure development is governed by law in a way that protects communities, enhances grid resilience, and accelerates spatial equity.
- Creating regulatory mechanisms that prioritise domestic value addition and link mineral extraction, energy use, and industrial policy in a coherent legal framework.
Dr Ramokgopa added that at this moment of structural transition, legal practitioners must move beyond compliance. ‘We must become architects of the legal infrastructure that underpins a just and secure energy future. Our ability to industrialise and to build a resilient economy will depend on how well the law serves the public interest and balances long-term development with short-term delivery.’ He said that South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET IP) is not simply about decarbonisation. He pointed out that it is about development. Ensuring that Mpumalanga’s coal communities are not discarded as the country pivots to renewables, and making sure women and youth benefit from new industries.
Mr Ramokgopa pointed out that legal practitioners are needed to –
- structure community benefit agreements;
- ensure proper environmental authorisations;
- hold financiers and investors accountable for their commitments; and
- monitor compliance with local content and procurement obligations.
Mr Ramokgopa said: ‘If we do not embed justice in the transition, in the contracts, the regulations, and the project approvals, then it is not just an energy failure. It is a legal failure of this generation of legal practitioners to secure the future that the 1976 generation laid the foundation for. You are not just lawyers of the future. You are architects of the new South Africa. The question is not whether we transition our energy or rebuild our infrastructure. The question is whether we will do so legally, ethically, and equitably, or whether we will replicate the injustices of the past using the instruments of the future.’
Messages of support
Giving a message of support, the Vice President of the Law Society of South Africa, Joanne Anthony-Gooden said that the future belongs to the young professionals. She pointed out that the theme of the conference could not be timelier, as there is a profound transformation taking place in the country, in communities, and in the legal profession. She said the law like the society it is serving is changing rapidly. ‘The lawyer of the future will be expected not only to interpret the law but also invite us to imagine a profession that is not only transformed into appearance, but into values, leadership, and purpose. And I want to say from the outset: That future cannot be built without you,’ Ms Anthony Gooden said.
Ms Anthony-Gooden added that artificial intelligence, environmental law, and globalisation are reshaping the legal landscape. ‘But so too are the ongoing struggles for access to justice,’ Ms Anthony-Gooden added. She said that the lawyer of the future must therefore be both tech-savvy and people-centered, guided by principle and committed to justice. She added that the lawyer of the future will be required to do more than simply apply the law. ‘As young legal professionals, you will need to reimagine justice in a digital age, challenge systemic inequality, and navigate rapidly evolving technologies, all while holding firm to the foundational values of integrity, fairness, and service.’
Ms Anthony-Gooden said: ‘At the Law Society of South Africa, we remain committed to transformation that is not symbolic, but substantive, not performative, but principled. This means supporting access to quality education, fair employment opportunities and mentorship. As the Law Society of South Africa, we are committed to supporting the future in real and tangible ways.’
Speaking on behalf of the National Executive Committee of the BLA, Head of Policy, Mzwakhe Mkhwanazi, stressed the importance of these kinds of events. He said that young legal practitioners need these kinds of engagements so that they get to listen to those who are senior and in higher positions, as their interaction and knowledge that they give will shape the young legal practitioners for what lies ahead. He said that the young legal practitioners must be inspired after the gathering. That the gathering will be a seed that will build a future legal practitioner. He pointed out that a future legal practitioner is not a dream, but a responsibility that one is going to embrace. He told the attendees that he does not want them to be spectators of that future, however, he wants them to be a part of those future legal practitioners.
Mr Mkhwanazi said: ‘If you keep this momentum. With these kinds of events. Twenty years from now, these individuals that are sitting here will say I attended the inaugural meeting that exposed us not only to distinguished individuals but also the knowledge that we need as we shaped ourselves.’ He quoted Steve Bantu Biko’s when he said: ‘In us it has been knowingly instilled fear which fear creates doubt that continues to resonate with black people. We fear the unknown. We even fear the potential in us. I want you, young as you are, to be less judgmental of yourself. Where you look at yourself as a failure, where you look at yourself as inadequate. In law you can’t do this,’ Mr Mkwanazi added. He shared his own personal story of how he was almost discouraged by words by a senior when he was a young legal practitioner. He encouraged young legal practitioners to not be discouraged even on days when things do not seem to go right.
The President of the Law Society of Lesotho, Lintle Tuke, in his message of support pointed out that the lawyer of the future asks all the right and relevant questions. ‘Are we preparing the young lawyers for court rooms or for board rooms? Are we preparing them for statutes or for strategy? Are we preparing young lawyers for black robes or for black ownership?’ Mr Tuke said. He added that these questions must be boldly answered, not from a stance of colonial leniency or victimhood, but as architects of an Afrocentric legal future.
He pointed out that the Law Society of Lesotho, is not just friends of the BLA. ‘We are family. We are connected not only by the struggle, but mainly by the vision of borderless black excellence. When the BLA speaks of transformation, we hear the echoes in Maseru. When Lesotho reforms its own legal practice, she is guided by the lessons of South Africa. We are one profession. One voice, one mission,’ Mr Tuke said. He further told the young legal practitioners that they are the present redefinition of the legal profession. He added that they must be the disruption which is needed and necessary. Mr Tuke touched on digital transformation. That AI must be used ethically, that it needs to be included in the transformation of the legal profession. He added that young legal practitioners should ask themselves whether they will be the generation that will be included, passive recipients of mentorship, active authors of their own legacy, or whether they will fight for transformation. He pointed out that these are the questions that will be answered by the ‘future lawyer’.
Discussion on skills development
Judge in the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Mandlenkosi Motha, spoke about the importance of growth and development. He said that one needs to be able to change their mindset. He said that young legal practitioners need to question the old-aged precepts and concepts of law. He gave an example about rescission applications and asked why it is when a legal practitioner brings that application to court, the matter they are seeking rescission on, is not suspended. ‘I am raising this as a future jurist, think about it seriously. We deal with on a day-to-day basis with Rule 46A, which is called foreclosure. This deals with the repossession of houses of our people,’ Judge Motha said.
Judge Motha pointed out that the land issue is of paramount importance. He said if people’s houses are being taken away, what is the job of the legal practitioner in this matter. ‘Remember your job is not just to make money. It is to change society. It is to make sure that the law talks to our people,’ Judge Motha added. He said that r 46A talks about primary residence where mothers and fathers stay. ‘I can tell you that most of those judgments proceed by way of default judgment and people’s houses are taken away,’ Judge Motha said. He pointed out that he is aware that there was a change in the law requiring that before foreclosure could be approved, there should be personal service, as per r 46A(3)(d).
Judge Motha said that legal practitioners have found a way to apply for substituted service, he, however, added that these substituted services are strange, such as by a way of advertising in newspapers, and by way of e-mail. He pointed out that it never reaches the people who are supposed to be reached by these methods. He said this affects people in the townships, he added that it might at some instances affect also those who are in the suburbs. He added that legal practitioners bringing a rescission application have to make sure that it is suspended, because if it is not suspended it means extra money must be spend by the poor litigant, who must bring an application in terms of r 45A, to challenge the executability of that judgment.
Judge Motha pointed out that these are issues that future jurists need to challenge. ‘You need to think long and hard. Unfortunately, those who will be going to parliament are not brave enough to change the law to benefit the people. Have you ever thought about this rule that we use, it is a Roman Dutch rule, that in a civil matter the matter must be proven on a balance of probabilities and in criminal matters the matter must be proved beyond reasonable doubt,’ Judge Motha said. He added that as a legal practitioner or jurist one never really thinks about this rules, that they are not right. ‘Does it make sense to you that a person who was arrested for stealing a sweet must be charged at the same standard that a judge should use to judge a person who’s committed murder’, Judge Motha asked.
Judge Motha urged attendees to go and act as judges. ‘Because we need your input, especially people who think differently,’ Judge Motha said. He pointed out that the bench needs people who come from all different walks of life, not just prominent big law firms, but even those who operate from the townships, at small firms, the bench needs women, as well as people who belong to the LGBTIQ community, different people with conglomerative ideas so that the bench is not a skewed bench. ‘You don’t have to be a judge, you can come an act and when you write judgments, write revolutionary judgment that are going to be impactful,’ Judge Motha added.
Panel discussions
The Acting Director: Leadership, Public Management and Administrative Training of the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College, Anthony Canham, spoke about mentorship. He said that the justice college offers training not only to prosecutors but also to legal the department’s legal interns who are recruited on an annual basis, and after completing training they are placed at the Masters Office, and the State Attorney Offices. They are also placed at a branch that deals with legislative drafting, or a branch that deals with constitutional development. He pointed out that the department has nine different branches that recruit graduates to come get practical experience. ‘Within the statutory branch, we don’t just mentor you, if you come with your LLB degree we will take you to do your practical legal training and we assign you to a deputy assistant attorney where the responsibility for them is to make sure that when you are done with your one or two year internship programme that you have gone through the court to get admitted as an attorney,’ Mr Canham said.
Mr Canham added that mentors teach practical applications to young graduates. He said that the department usually lets the mentees choose their own mentors, however, if they do not have a specific mentor they want, the department then assigns the mentee a mentor that speaks directly to the mentee’s qualification, whether it is a senior advocate or senior attorney. He also added that if there are law graduates who then decide that they do not want to practice as legal practitioners, but rather be legal researchers, then they are assigned to a researcher as a mentor. He said that there should be a relationship that when a mentee is done with that training, they can say that their skills have been fully developed, and they would be confident in knowing which area they would like to specialise in.
Professor Sizwe Snail ka Mtuze, while speaking at the event said that legal practitioners should open their minds to new legal disciplines. He pointed out that cyber law is open and there is work in that field. He gave a few examples of things that are used every day that people use that go hand-in-hand with what could potentially lead to cyber law work, such as radio, which falls under telecommunication, which cyber law work could come out of. Another example is an SMS or WhatsApp conversation between a buyer and a seller of a product, which can be used as a valid electronic agreement between the two. He told attendees that another way of getting work under cyber law is through their domain name, such as domain name disputes, trademarks, company names, and names that are used on the internet form a part of the cyber law.
Prof Snail ka Mtuze spoke about how times are changing, that we see the use of e-justice, where legal practitioners do not have to go to a physical court room. He spoke about the use of social media, which has aspects of privacy, it also has aspects of defamation of character, and the use of cryptocurrency which can give work to legal practitioners in cyber law.
Speaking during the panel of the ‘Fireside Chat: The Unfiltered Truth About the Legal Industry,’ the discussion was by young legal practitioners, legal practitioner Jade Louella, said that when graduates are looking for articles of clerkship, they will realise that the number of law graduates outweigh the number of places of placement. She added that there is an unequal competition rate in the legal industry which causes a double burden as a black male graduate, because they are a person of colour. She pointed out as a black female you have a triple burden in the legal profession. She advised the attendees who are still seeking employment to make sure they stand out. ‘We are in the age of AI, everyone is talking about it, it is quite odd because attorneys behind the desk are not going to sit behind the desk and look at your CV. You need to personalise yourself, the way you sell yourself to your future employer,’ Ms Louella said.
Ms Louella shared how when she was looking for articles, she printed out her CV and went to different law firms, particularly boutique firms, to show a physical initiative and give a brief personalisation of who she was and what she was willing to do and the hours she was willing to work. She said that it makes a difference. She added that when one wants to appeal to their future employer, they need to first start with Practical Legal Training (PLT), which is compulsory training that legal practitioners need to complete in order to enter the legal profession. She said that once that is done one is in a position to write board exams. She said this may put one at an advantage to be employed as a candidate legal practitioner.
Legal practitioner Mayson Petla added that if one wants to out filter the legal profession, one must understand their ‘why’. ‘Each person, particularly from the perspective of students, you need to understand why you are studying law. Many students don’t have a “why”, hence many students are unemployed after they graduate,’ Mr Petla said. He pointed out that the importance of this question is the moment you ask yourself ‘why’ in that moment one gets intentional about the journey they are embarking on. He said that the moment you say ‘why’, you look at what is the highest place I could go to and how to get there. ‘If you don’t get there you are most likely to land somewhere close to there,’ Mr Petla added.
Mr Petla spoke about being intentional with yourself, he said that the reality is that those who are not intentional will take time to start up and most likely are going to blame others. ‘When you enter this profession, you need to know what it is you want to achieve and how to get there. One simple issue many young professionals do not adopt or don’t seek to understand is that all the information that you require to be a successful lawyer is available on YouTube,’ Mr Petla said. He added that it is not about the lack of resources or lack of information, however, it is about one not wanting to take the first step to know how to equip themselves to be a better student or legal practitioner.
Mr Petla also touched on building networks by being a part of associations such as the BLA. He said that as a student or young professional one needs to understand that the legal profession is based on building relationships. ‘It is based on who do you know and who can speak for you in your absence. You need to be a person who exposes themselves to as many associations, different curriculum and networking events as possible. Because the more your name becomes familiar in the industry, the easier it is for people to trust that this person is able to do this thing, because somebody else that they may trust may lend that credibility to you,’ Mr Petla added.
Kgomotso Ramotsho Cert Journ (Boston) Cert Photography (Vega) is the news reporter at De Rebus.
