Pictured with Team South Africa is (from left): Principal at Gibson Pillay Learning Academy, Mahalingam Pillay; family member of Clara-Marie Macheke, Fortune Moyo; Simon Motshweni; Paseka Selinyane; Ambassador for South Africa in the Netherlands, Vusi Koloane; Department of Basic Education: Deputy director of social cohesion and equity in education, Malebo Lefoka; Claire Rankin; Clara-Marie Macheke; Katelyn Chetty; Shandré Smith; teacher at MH Baloyi High School, Stephanie Mashilo; Mandisa Xaba and Nthabiseng Mbatha. Missing from picture: Gift Kgomosotho, coach.
By Nomfundo Manyathi-Jele
South Africa has come out tops at the 2016 International Moot Court competition at The Hague in the Netherlands. This is the third time that this competition has taken place and is held every second year.
This year, the competition took place from 18 to 22 January. The topic focused on the issue of crimes against humanity during war time.
Twelve countries participated in the competition, namely, Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, Mongolia, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, St Martens, the United States of America (US), Venezuela and South Africa. Contestants were given an opportunity to argue using international criminal law and treaties that are relevant to the International Criminal Court.
After eight preliminary rounds held over three days at the Leiden University, the two teams with the highest accumulated scores were the US and South Africa. One team would argue the case of the defence and the other, the case of the prosecution. To determine this, lots were drawn, and team South Africa (team SA) was to argue the case for the defence. The two teams competed in the final held at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Peace Palace.
Team South Africa’s defence team (from left) Shandré Smith, Clara-Marie Macheke and Claire Rankin, beat team United States at the 2016 International Moot Court competition at The Hague.
Team SA was made up of the top eight learners of the National School Moot Court competition, which took place in late 2015 (see ‘National Schools Moot Court comptetition’ 2015 (Dec) DR 16). The team consisted of three lawyers for the prosecution, three for the defence and two alternates. These learners were Katelyn Chetty and Shandré Smith from Gibson Pillay Learning Academy; Claire Rankin and Clara-Marie Macheke from Springfield Convent School; Paseka Selinyane and Simon Motshweni from MH Baloyi in Winterveldt in the Northwest of Pretoria, as well as Nthabiseng Mbatha and Mandisa Xaba from Sakhelwe High in Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal.
Team SA’s defence team went against team United States’ prosecution team. Ms Smith (17), Ms Rankin (17) and Ms Macheke (16) made up South Africa’s defence team.
Ms Smith, who enrolled for her first year of her BA law degree at the University of the Witwatersrand this year, told De Rebus that she is still overwhelmed that they beat the US. She said that she feels ecstatic about the win adding that the experience was a great one. ‘I would like to be involved in the research part of law,’ she said. Ms Smith said that her favourite part of the competition was meeting other children from all the different cultures. ‘Speaking at the ICJ in front of a large crowd made me extremely nervous even though I knew what I was doing and was prepared,’ she said. She added: ‘We won a trophy but the title in itself holds a lot of weight, no one can ever take that title away from us’.
Team South Africa’s defence team and team United States prosecution team arguing in the final round of the international moot court competition in January.
Ms Rankin, who is currently in matric said that winning the competition ‘was incredible and affirming to know that your hard work pays off. It was such a great start to the year’. Ms Rankin added that she would like to be a state attorney one day and that the competition gave her a chance to explore the profession of law where she found out that ‘public speaking and arguing is right up her ally’.
Ms Rankin said that no one expected them to win. ‘We were the under dogs. We only had four days to prepare. It was a team of just girls. People never thought that we were capable,’ she said. She added that she thoroughly enjoyed the experience as it was her first time out of the country. ‘It was incredible,’ she enthused.
Ms Macheke, who is also currently in matric said that it felt phenomenal to have been part of a winning team. ‘I want to be in a career that tangibly helps people and law is one of those careers. I have applied for law and medicine next year,’ she said. She reiterated Ms Rankin’s sentiments that no one expected them to win, adding that ‘when we started doing well, people were very surprised’.
Ms Macheke said that the competition opened them to a different experience. She said that she enjoyed meeting different people and experiencing different cultures.
The International Court of Justice where the final round of the moot court competition took place.
De Rebus also had the opportunity to speak to team SA’s coach, Gift Kgomosotho. Mr Kgomosotho completed his LLB degree in 2015. At the moment he is working as a legal researcher for The Institute of International and Comparative Law in Africa at the University of Pretoria. He would like to become an advocate one day.
Mr Kgomosotho holds the titles of South African National Championship and Best Oralist in the Phillip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition 2014 and has won a number of moots. He told De Rebus that he is incredibly proud of the team. ‘The first phase of the training happened via correspondence, the second phase was during a workshop I hosted in Pretoria. The team had very limited time, and they worked very hard and diligently. What is more, is that they all got together and really formed a team. The learners displayed an intuitive ability to interact with international criminal law, which is something I found to be very impressive for that level,’ he said. Mr Kgomosotho added that team SA was the only African team that took part in the competition.
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 (March) DR 4.
