‘Prior to the mock trail competition we had only competed in moot court competitions at the University and the mock trial required a different approach.  In preparation for the competition we trained using actual police dockets from past cases that the Clinic had dealt with. 

We learned about Part A of the docket, specifically the A1 statements, which are the most important statements in a police docket. We also learned how to prepare a charge, the annexure to the charge sheet and the appearances in the court, as well as ways in which to question witnesses in the various stages of the trial for various criminal offences.  Through preparation we were able to point out what our respective strengths and weaknesses were and determined the respective roles we would assume in the mock trial process.  We had to sacrifice a lot of our spare time, even weekends, for the preparation, but it was all for a good cause.

Upon our arrival on 2 October 2012 at the Potchefstroom Campus of the University of the North West, we met the other 17 teams from universities across the country. Throughout the competition we had an opportunity to alternate between being the state and the defence.  Being defence was always a lighter burden as the defence only needs to create doubt in the state's case as opposed to the state which has to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.  In the final ranking on 4 October, the University of Pretoria was ranked sixth overall with the Potchefstroom Campus of the University of North West seizing positions one to four and the University of Venda taking position five.  Throughout our rounds we managed to maintain an average score of 85%.  Bearing in mind that this was achieved within a month’s worth of preparation, this was a fulfilling result.

The energy and common understanding of the team ensured a pleasant training environment and produced satisfactory results.  Most importantly, Ms Pitsi, in her capacity as the coach, was our greatest supporter. 

We would like to thank the sponsor of the Competition, LexisNexis, our hosts and the Law Clinic for enabling us to participate in this Competition. The continued encouragement from the Clinic’s Director and the staff is highly appreciated.   

Our participation instilled a high level of confidence which will assist us in our careers. 

Sibusiso Mlangeni and Tshepiso Scott’

Coach Edna Pitsi



  Group photo of the 2012 participants