On 20 February the Joburg office of ProBono.Org celebrated its annual Pro Bono Awards. The ceremony was held to acknowledge the outstanding pro bono contributions of the legal profession in 2024.
The awards were hosted by Norton Rose Fulbright SA Inc. and we are extremely grateful for their generous support for this important event in our calendar.
The legal profession and honoured guests turned out in their numbers to celebrate the efforts of those who
serve the poor and vulnerable through our various legal clinics and help desks, and also take on cases, conduct workshops and generally show their commitment to realising the value of helping others.
We were honoured to have Jason Brickhill deliver a profound keynote address where he mapped out the access to justice ecosystem and stressed the importance of the South African Constitution in ensuring that our people are given an opportunity
to live in dignity through having access to justice. Along with criminal law, he noted the need for civil law to be recognised as an essential human right through adequate state funding.
“Access to justice serves as a vital bridge between the promises of the Constitution and people’s everyday lives. The work that you all do, and that we celebrate tonight, is nothing short of life-sustaining for our constitutional democracy. It connects people to the Constitution, and turns paper promises into real-world rights.
Pro bono services are so vital…they are the lifeblood of constitutional democracy. It is the quiet, unglorious task of providing legal assistance to an individual who could not otherwise afford it that creates the possibility for the Constitution to be made real in that one person’s life.
It means the difference between an experience of the law that respects a person’s dignity and agency, even if they do not succeed in court, and an experience that
instrumentalises, brutalises and sometimes criminalises
people.
The winners in the various categories of law atProBono.Org were as follows:
Child Law – Keneth Mabale of Malatji, Nduma & Mojapelo Inc. Theresa, Luyt and Karen Malan of Alternative Conflict Resolution (ACR)
Labour Law – Maponya Attorneys
Family Law – Madiba & Co. Attorneys
Wills – Susan Harris
Domestic Violence – Dobsonville Human Rights Advice Office
Community Advice Office – Messina Legal Advice Office
Community Impact/ Empowerment – Norton Rose Fulbright SA Inc.
Housing – Themba Khumalo, Eversheds Sutherland
Deceased Estates / Mastes – Amina Yuda, Norton Rose Fulbright SA Inc.
Deeds & Conveyancing – Norton Rose Fulbright SA Inc.
Refugees – Virginia Sekgothe Attorneys
Small Firm – Nthabiseng Maleka Attorneys
Medium Firm – HBG Schindlers
Large Firm – Bowmans
Best All Rounder – Fasken
Varsity College Student (Individual) – Rumaana Marks
Varsity College Group – MSA Group 15
Student at a Univesity LawClinic – Brandon Taylor, Stellenbosch University Law Clinic
Advocate – Adv. Khayalethu Madlwabinga
Special Mentions
Busisiwe Mahlangu, Adv. Ntombifuthi Mpofu, Neumenn van Rooyen Attorneys and Puleng Tladi, Matthew Ilsley (Webber Wentzel), Elgene Roos & Jacquie Cassette of Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, Lesley Morphet of Fasken, Adv. Birgit Brammer, Maponya Attorneys and MVC Incorporated.
