TuksLaw and Reach for a Dream partner to fulfil a young girl's dream

Joyce’s jam-packed day started off from hospital with a visit to the North Gauteng High Court where she had the opportunity to sit in on the Oscar Pistorius trial.  This visit, facilitated by TuksLaw, was made possible by the kind permission of Judge President Dunstan Mlambo and Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba of the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa.   Joyce’s next stop was at the Student Recruitment and Retention Division of the University of Pretoria where she received information on the relevant study programmes on offer and the respective admission requirements.

After meeting with the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof Anton Kok, Executive Committee members of the Faculty’s student body, Law House, gave Joyce a tour of the Faculty’s facilities.  Joyce also had the opportunity to observe and judge law students preparing to represent South Africa at the African Rounds of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition to be held in Nigeria in May 2014.

After a hearty lunch at the Law Clinic, Joyce’s desert consisted of a hunt for easter eggs on their premises.  Donning an attorney’s gown and carrying a legal briefcase she was the splitting image of a successful lawyer.  Frans Haupt, Director of the Law Clinic and Ms Edna Pitsi, attorney at the Law Clinic, explained the functioning of the Law Clinic and the quality legal services it provides to the indigent who would otherwise have been excluded from equitable justice, and its clinical legal education programme which exposes final-year law students to law in action. Joyce received a number of gifts, amongst them a cell phone which was also part and parcel of her dream package.

A tired, but happy Joyce conveyed her appreciation to all involved for what she described as “one of the best days in [her] life” and is more determined than ever to beat the cancer she is suffering from – aiming to one day graduate from TuksLaw and become a successful lawyer.