ADV MADONSELA DELIVERS THE VICTORIA AND GRIFFITHS MXENGE MEMORIAL LECTURE
Volume: 6 Issue: 21http://enewsletter.ukzn.ac.za/Story.aspx?id=1016
Left: Public Protector Thulisile Madonsela. Right: Professor Managay Reddi congratulates Ms Tatum Govender.
Public Protector Thulisile Madonsela called for academic research into the role of the public protector and the meaning of good governance during her address at the 10th annual Victoria and Griffiths Mxenge Memorial Lecture and the School of Law Student Awards Ceremony at the Howard College campus.
Madonsela defined the role of the public protector as helping to ensure that there was proper planning, budgeting, prioritisation and good governance in the affairs of the state in South Africa.
‘If I could have my way I would have academics research this entity as we need their view. I believe UKZN has the ability to do this. We should look no further than your rich history of respect for human rights and pull out all stops to see to it that all South Africans enjoy the full protection of the law,’ said Madonsela.
The annual Lecture commemorates the significant role Griffiths and Victoria Mxenge – who were both lawyers – played in the liberation struggle.
Dean and Head of the School of Law at UKZN, Professor Managay Reddi, hailed the Lecture as the annual highlight in the University’s Law calendar and commended Madonsela’s role in protecting the rights of South African citizens.
Madonsela highlighted the sacrifices the Mxenges made for the freedoms and rights South Africans enjoy today.
‘The Mxenges and others who fought for our freedom rejected the apartheid society where the state was not accountable to the majority of its people. It not surprising therefore that the Constitution that came out of their thoughts, sacrifices and suffering of their loved ones is one that commits to laying a foundation for the rebirth of South Africa,’ said Madonsela.
She also expressed her honour at delivering a Lecture that over the decade of its inception had been delivered by legal icons including former President Nelson Mandela. The Lecture was followed by an awards ceremony which recognised law students’ achievements.
Summa cum laude final year law graduate Ms Tatum Govender won the Lexis Nexis Book Prize for the Best Insurance and Agency student, the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society Prize for the Best Final Year student and the Abel Torf Prize for the Best Overall Student, the Shepstone & Wylie Award for the Best Maritime Law Student, the Cox Yeats Award for the Best Corporate Law Student, the Shunmugam N Chetty Memorial Prize for being the final year student with the best aggregate in Human Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure and Administrative Law and the Phatshoane Henney Group Honour Medal.
The Kessie Naidu Award First Year Prize went to Mr Lethukuthula Khumalo while Mr Musa Kika was named the Best Foundation of Law Student and received the Rudolph Bernestein & Associates Prize.
The 1st Year Moot Court Competition for October 2011 went to Ms Kisty Frances, Mr Arthur Whitfield, Ms Sashin Rajah, Mr Alastair Dey-Van Heerden and Mr Phillip Ross Thompson while Mr Ntokozo Qwabe was given the Norton Rose Prize for the Best Delict Student.
The Bell Dewar Prize for the Best Environmental Law Student was awarded to Ms Stephne Kleinloog. The Penny Andrews Prize for the Best Clinical Law Student went to Mr Nelson Cheng.
The Adams and Adams Labour Law Prize for the Best Labour Law Student and the Juta Prize for the Best Third Year Student was won by Ms Kimberly Ann Sharp. The Barend van Niekerk Prize for Best Jurisprudence Student went to Ms Natasha Panther and The Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyer Prize for the Best Second Year Student went to Ms Tafadzwa Chiposi and Mr Caleb Jones while Mr Melusi Dlamini and Ms Chantele Sibanda received the prize for the 3rd Human Rights World Moot Court Competition.
The prize winners for the 20th Africa Human Rights Moot Court Competition held in October 2011 at the University of Abomey-Calavi in Cotonou, Benin were Ms Caitlin van Rensburg and Mr Lunga Siyo and Mr Greig Campell, while Mr Melusi Dlamini received the Frances Tobias Prize for being the Best Negotiable Instruments Student.
