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Announcing the semi-finalists of the PIL Moot Court Competition

- Lee-Anne Bruce

A huge congratulations to the four teams going into the semi-finals of this year's Public Interest Law Moot Court Competition

The Centre for Applied Legal Studies and the Student Litigation Society are very proud to announce that the following teams have been selected to participate in the semi-finals of this year’s Public Interest Law Moot Court Competition:

  • Samantha Smit, Thabo Mathule and Winnie George (representing the University of Johannesburg)
  • Christopher Tobaiwa, Tshwelopele Ramokoka and Cwenga Chris Gogodla (representing Rhodes University)
  • Zakhele Nkosi, Sanelisekile Sundu and Boitumelo Ramatsetse (representing Nelson Mandela University)
  • Tendai Mikioni, Benevolio Mgcini Tshuma and Zilungile Mbali (representing the University of Fort Hare)

These four teams have been chosen from over 160 registered to participate in the PIL Moot Court Competition last year. We send our deepest thanks and appreciation to everyone who submitted their written arguments, and to the generous volunteers who assisted in marking the submissions. We have been extremely impressed by the overall quality of the submissions received.

The four semi-finalist teams will in the coming weeks have the opportunity to receive coaching from practising human rights lawyers, and participate in masterclasses run by advocates who have argued before the Constitutional Court.

The semi-finals are set to take place on 15 April 2021 – with our four remaining teams making oral arguments on the hypothetical constitutional case they have been working on before a panel of guest judges. The hypothetical case raises important questions around migration, incarceration and human rights during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full case and find other information about the Competition here.

The final round of the PIL Moot Court Competition will see the last two teams competing head-to-head on 16 April 2021. Members of the winning team will have the opportunity to be preferentially considered for a fully paid internship at CALS.

“This is by far the most exciting project I have worked on,” says Prosper Dumani, Director of the Student Litigation Society. “I am thus far proud of the work we have done and particularly of the participants who soldiered on regardless of the pandemic and lockdown situation and gave the competition their best. Congratulations to the semi-finalists!”

Follow #PILMOOT on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news on the Competition.

For more information, please contact:

From SLS:

From CALS:

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