By Nomfundo Manyathi-Jele
Sabelo Nzuza, 27, a law degree graduate who is diagnosed with cerebral palsy, is relieved to finally be employed.
Mr Nzuza, who is originally from Umlazi Township in Durban, is serving his articles at Legal Aid South Africa’s (Legal Aid SA) head office in Johannesburg. He appealed to the media in June when he was struggling to find an opportunity to serve articles.
Candidate attorney, Sabelo Nzuza, who has cerebral palsy, is relieved to have found a job.
Mr Nzuza told De Rebus that he has always aspired to be an attorney. ‘One memory that is particularly vivid though, was when I read the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird. The novel had as its main character an attorney named Atticus Finch; I was particularly fascinated by the manner in which he proved the innocence of his client Tom Robinson and the courage he had in insisting to represent him despite the community hounding and intimidating him and his children for representing a black man. I guess that made me see how noble the profession of being an attorney can be. As I grew up and my interest in the law deepened, I got to know of other types of laws and the various careers that one could do if they studied law at university since it is such a versatile degree to have,’ he said.
Mr Nzuza said that one of the challenges he faces is that his writing is illegible. In primary and early high school, he had to use an electronic typewriter for written work. ‘I had particular difficulty when it came to the changing of classes, when the bell rang and I would have to rely on some of my classmates or friends to help me carry a very heavy typewriter from one class to the next. For homework again, due to the fact that I could not travel to and from school with my typewriter, I would have to get home and have to dictate to my mother, who would help me to write.
‘As technology became more advanced, and when my mother had finally saved up enough money, she bought me a desktop computer which helped us both in that, I did not have to wait for her to come back from work, with her having to do other chores first and only thereafter could we finally sit down and write my homework. It was only upon entering university that my bursary helped in buying me a laptop, as well as a dictaphone for lectures. These were too expensive and my mother did not have the means to get that type of computer and assistive device for me,’ he said.
Mr Nzuza said he is loving his job a lot and that he particularly enjoys the research aspect, as well as being one of the first ones to draft or review a contract.
Cerebral palsy is a ‘condition marked by impaired muscle coordination (spastic paralysis) and/or other disabilities, typically caused by damage to the brain before or at birth’ (www.oxforddictionaries.com, accessed 8-7-2016).
Legal Aid SA has established a People with Disabilities Recruitment Programme. The programme was developed in order to promote diversity and equal opportunities for all and invites and encourages job applications from people with disabilities for vacant positions at the organisation.
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 (Aug) DR 7.
