Johannesburg:
Ongezwa Gontshi
Ongezwa recently joined ProBono. Org as the finance administrator/project officer on the AFSA/Global Fund project aimed at reducing stigma and discrimination as well as educating and providing legal advice and assistance to persons living with HIV and TB in South Africa. Prior to joining us she was employed as a project accountant at the Legal Resources Centre. Ongezwa chose ProBono.Org because she wanted to branch out from doing solely finance work and the Global Fund project is the perfect opportunity to do that and to expand her career within the human rights space, which is an environment she enjoys working in and is passionate about.
Sifo Ngubo
Sifo joined the Joburg office on 6 January 2020, working in the child law department.
He was born in the Vaal area and has lived in many places around the country, including Matatiele and Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, and in Orange Farm and Soweto. The son of a domestic worker, he was raised by a single parent. His future was reimagined when he obtained an LL.B from the University of Johannesburg.
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
Tebogo Makwala
Tebogo grew up and went to school in Vosloorus on the East Rand. He graduated with an LLB from the University of South Africa, and also holds a National Diploma in Law from the University of Johannesburg. He started work on 6 January in the Refugee department and is looking forward to helping destitute and desperate asylum seekers and refugees to get legal assistance. Tebogo has an interest in community involvement, helping and sharing knowledge to uplift and liberate his community. This helps him achieve satisfaction in life as it feels good to be helpful to others.
Durban:
Siyabonga Zondi
Siyabonga Zondi was born and raised in Durban, KwaZulu Natal. He completed his LLB at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in 2018. While completing his Practical Legal Training in 2019 he applied for an internship at ProBono. Org in order to gain exposure to a dynamic legal environment and to be an active participant in the organisation’s mission of providing access to justice to all sectors of society. He has a deep-rooted passion for labour law and wishes to pursue a Masters in Labour Law and ultimately practise as a Labour Practitioner. Having been an avid participant of his University’s street law programme, he believes that “In the most unequal society in the world, where access to justice is more the exception than the norm, organisations like ProBono.Org and their various stakeholders play a crucial role in bridging this gap.”
Nongcebo Charity Mthembu
Nongcebo is an aspirant legal practitioner who was born in Ndulinde, a small village in Mandeni in northern KwaZulu-Natal. She completed her LLB in 2017 at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (PMB). She is currently completing her LLM in Advanced Criminal Justice. Nongcebo believes that the law is a tool that can be used to fight injustices and she advocates for the protection of women and children’s rights. Her passion for human rights motivated her to write a dissertation on the “Decriminalisation of Adult Consensual Sex Work in South Africa” using a human rights approach. Her future goal is to enrol for a PhD, focusing on land tenure rights in South Africa. She is thankful for the opportunity to work as a legal intern at ProBono.Org as she believes that the organisation will equip her with the necessary skills and knowledge she requires to be a human rights lawyer.
Sinothile Zondi
Sinothile hails from the South Coast of KwaZulu Natal, from a village called Ezingolweni and moved to Durban for educational purposes. She completed her LLB degree at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in 2019. Her passion and interest for social justice and human rights was ignited when she joined ProBono.Org as a volunteer in 2018, to the extent that she re-joined us as a consultant intern in 2019. She was appointed as a permanent intern in January 2020 and her aim is to promote and advance the right to access to justice for all. In the future she hopes to undertake her articles at an NGO, focusing on human rights.
Cape Town:
ProBono.Org Cape Town welcomes Shadreck Masike and Mattew December as our new legal interns who joined us on 6 January 2020. We wish them tremendous growth, learning and development during their tenure with us.
Shadreck Masike
Shadreck attended the University of Zimbabwe where he obtained his LLB in 2018. During his time at university he developed a passion for human rights in general with a specific focus on socio-economic and cultural rights and the rule of law. Upon completion of his degree, he was admitted as a Legal Practitioner, Conveyancer and Notary Public by the High Court of Zimbabwe and briefly practised there before he moved to South Africa. He has participated in a number of symposia and forums hosted by civil society organisations in identifying theoretical frameworks that lay the ground for the full realisation of human rights in Africa in the broader sense. Shadreck is also an avid reader and enjoys legal research and writing and is currently contributing material to a number of journals.
Mattew December
Mattew graduated with an LLB degree from the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in 2018. He is currently pursuing an LLM degree in International Human Rights Protection. His research paper will focus on the fraudulent acquisition of citizenship and will take the form of a comparative analysis between South Africa and Zimbabwe. In 2017, Mattew worked at the ANC Parliamentary Constituency office in De Doorns, where his role was to inform farm workers of their rights in terms of key labour legislation, after realising the extent of their exploitation. In the same year, he was elected Secretary of UWC’s Black Lawyers’ Association Student Chapter, as well as the Chairperson of Weapons of Raising Dreams (W.O.R.D) an on-campus NGO founded by UWC students in order to address the need for mentorship and guidance in high schools. Mattew hopes to complete his LLM during 2020 and is an aspiring human rights legal practitioner who wishes to be of service to his community.
