The Faculty of Law (UP Law) at the University of Pretoria (UP) is proud to announce that final-year LLB student Nicholas Herd officially received the National Yunus Mahomed Public Interest Award (YMPIA) for Law/Business/Ethics during a virtual event on 4 November 2020.  Herd’s national award was based on his article in the 2019 Pretoria Student Law Review,  ‘Should the flag fit, or must we acquit?’.

The event, which was moderated by Mr Christopher Carl Gevers from the UKZN, and hosted by Judge Dhaya Pillay under the auspices of Kagiso Capital (Pty) Ltd and Kagiso Trust, was themed ‘An analysis of freedom of expression in South Africa with a specific reference to hate speech’  Nicholas Herd was virtually joined by LLB student Kate Dewey and MPhil candidate Izu Sichinga from the University of Cape Town.

Herd had the opportunity to discuss his thoughts and stance on the article that was submitted for and won the competition, which was followed by a panel discussion between Herd, Dewey and Sichinga.

At conclusion of the discussion, Herd reiterated his grateful surprise at being selected for the award whilst attending the event, and expressed his thankfulness to Kagiso Trust and Kagiso Capital (Pty) Ltd, and in particular to Mr Lebo Mosiane, Chief Operations Officer of Kagiso Capital (Pty) Ltd, for their hospitality at Kagiso's headquarters. Herd was especially appreciative of the panel’s incisive engagement and the diversity in perspective on the underlying questions of what should be regulated as – and how the law should go about regulating – hate speech under the South African Constitution. Herd remarked he thoroughly enjoyed the panel discussion experience.

At the conclusion of the discussion, Judge Dhaya Pillay, Chair of the YMPIA, thanked the panel for a riveting discussion.  She also provided a brief overview of the YMPIA.  ‘Established in 2013, the YMPIA for published articles on Public Interest Law and Business Ethics strives to encourage students to study and practice law in a manner that promotes the advancement of the public interest, transparency and accountability, to cultivate and entrench democracy and best practices.’   She continued by saying ‘What was not hate speech before WWI and WWII and during apartheid is now categorised as hate speech.’  She reasoned that ‘Law alone is not a driver of transformation and that transformation should be organic.  It should be promoted and happen from the ground upwards.’  In her view it was ‘The way to go.  We have to mobilise people to change their beliefs to the greater good of our Constitution.’

Judge Pillay cautioned ‘against coming down too hard on people when they are using their right to the freedom of expression’.  She said that if ‘one does not want to drive expression and differences of beliefs underground, it will be counterproductive in the end to the aims of a constitutional democracy.  We should encourage South Africans to ventilate grievances and promote and encourage public dialogue.’   In her view, ‘This is how South Africans should deal with freedom of expression, in order to create a balanced society.’

Judge Pillay also thanked the members of the Award Committee, consisting of Prof André Boraine (University of Pretoria),  Mr Christopher Carl Gevers (University of Kwa-Zulu Natal), Prof Danie Brand (University of the Free State) and Prof Hanri Mostert (University of Cape Town).  She extended her appreciation to all involved in the management of the Competition, in particular Kagiso Trust and Kagiso Capital (Pty) Ltd, and specifically Rose Mahlophe for coordinating the event.  She also expressed her ‘appreciation to the stalwarts of the struggle for democracy and those still working towards democracy’.

* Recording link of the YMPIA webinar and award ceremony held on 4 November 2020.