Thembisile Mahuwa
Nominee's Province:
Gauteng
Age:
29
Project Name/Description:
Lawyer – University of South Africa Law Clinic
Thembisile Mahuwa is a legal eagle and community activist with over a decade of experience in providing free legal services in her community. She holds an LLB and Honours degree in Policy Making, as well as a certificate in Civilian Oversight. Currently completing her LLM with UNISA. While studying her law degree, Mahuwa realised that most people in her community didn’t understand the law and how it could protect them. So, during community meetings, she’d conduct legal education for residents. While serving her articles at the UNISA Law Clinic, Mahuwa was part of a collective that launched three new free legal clinics in three provinces, namely, Limpopo, the Western Cape and Mpumalanga. Her biggest achievement is that in the past two years, she has won 100% of her finalised cases, which she did pro bono. Mahuwa mentions that democracy is something that she will forever celebrate and endeavour to protect. “As South Africa marks 30 years of freedom my reflection would be that, there is development in the country, albeit in a slow manner. There is high unemployment rate and due to that, we see the rise of substance abuse as coping mechanisms however to the detriment of the affected. I believe that for a change to happen, we need to collectively address matters to take responsibility, hold our leaders accountable and also be part of the change that we want to see. We all have a role to play.” Mahuwa has also launched an anti-bullying and violence campaign at underprivileged schools across the country through the Street Law Programme with UNISA Law Clinic. Through this campaign, she has visited over 30 schools in seven provinces so far and hopes to reach more schools this year.
