By Nomfundo Manyathi-Jele
Johannesburg attorney, Diana Mabasa, has won the 2015 LexisNexis Prize for Legal Practitioners for the best article by a practising attorney published in De Rebus.
Johannesburg attorney, notary and conveyancer, Diana Mabasa, has won the 2015 LexisNexis Prize for Legal Practitioners for the best article by a practising attorney published in De Rebus.
She has won the award for her article titled ‘Ukuthwala: Is it culturally relative?’ which was the cover feature in the August issue last year (2015 (Aug) DR 28). The article dealt with the controversial practice of ukuthwala and highlights how ukuthwala affects only black women and girls in a negative way. The article also proposes a particular kind of intervention for law and policy reform, which will combine the effects of race and gender discrimination to assist in delivering effective strategies for the security and wellbeing of those historically marginalised as a result of race and gender.
Ms Mabasa said that she is ‘ecstatic’ about winning the prize. She has won a Lenovo tablet and one year’s free access to LexisMobile.
Ms Mabasa is the founder of Diana Mabasa Inc. She specilisies in environmental and constitutional law. She has also acted as a judge in both the Gauteng Division, Pretoria and the Gauteng Local Division, Johannesburg High Court and is involved in various community based organisations which strive to uplift and empower women and girls.
Meanwhile, Krugersdorp attorney, Nokubonga Fakude, has won the 2015 Juta Prize for Candidate Attorneys for her article titled ‘Redundant or relevant? The law of unjustified enrichment’ published 2015 (Apr) DR 36.
The article was on the South African law of unjustified enrichment and the action of the unauthorised administrator where Ms Fakude investigated the relevance of the two actions in current South African law.
Krugersdorp attorney, Nokubonga Fakude, has won the 2015 Juta Prize for Candidate Attorney article for the best article by a candidate attorney.
Ms Fakude wrote the article while she was doing her clerkship at Krugersdorp law firm, Mauritz Breytenbach Attorneys. When asked what inspired her to write the article Ms Fakude said: ‘In the final year of my LLB study, the law of unjustified enrichment formed part of the curriculum. At that stage I had completed the other fields of law that later became relevant in the article in question. While undertaking my studies in the law of unjustified enrichment I came across a few topics that I considered as having “loopholes”. Due to the nature of my studies there was not much of a platform to express this (apart from class discussions and consultations) because when writing tests and exams one has to answer questions precisely and not deviate from what is being assessed. Therefore, once I began with my articles of clerkship … I would … read De Rebus to keep myself up to date with the law … and that is when I decided to [write an article].’
At the time of going to print Ms Fakude was still employed at Mauritz Breytenbach Attorneys and was awaiting her board exam results. She has a strong interest in commercial law and commercial litigation and enjoys civil procedure and the interpretation of statutes and contracts.
Ms Fakude has won a tablet and a Jutastat online Essential Legal Practitioners Bundle.
Nomfundo Manyathi-Jele NDip Journ (DUT) BTech Journ (TUT) is the news editor at De Rebus.
This article was first published in De Rebus in 2016 (June) DR 19.
