Wits set to represent Africa in international moot court competition

by | Apr 30, 2019

Students from the Wits Law School will compete in Geneva. 

A Wits University team of four students has qualified to represent Africa at the African regional round of the John H. Jackson Moot Court competition that took place at the Kenya School of Law in Nairobi on Saturday, April 27.

LLB students Yasmina Poundja, Refiloe Mpati, Simphiwe Mkhumane, and Mpendulo Mfeka will travel to the Geneva in June together with three other teams, all from Kenya.

Team captain, Yasmina Poundja told Wits Vuvuzela, “I am really so proud of my team for qualifying because I have seen every team member work hard and smart. We were up against some really strong teams and we still came out strong”.

“I want nothing more than to be the first African team to ever win it. I want it in history. The goal is to win”, said Poundja.

“What is more satisfying isn’t the winning, it is seeing the process working”, said Mkhumane, 26.

Mfeka,23, said, “Geneva is to every lawyer to what Mecca is to every Muslim”.

The Wits team were the first in the competition to win all three categories for best written submissions for the complainant, best written submissions for the respondent, and overall best written submissions.

The team’s coach, Dr Franziska Sucker who accompanied the team in Nairobi for the competition told Wits Vuvuzela that “the students have worked very hard to get there and represented the Wits School of Law in the best possible way”.

Sucker added, “I hope they [the team] will gain experience at the international level in dispute resolution, will connect to many other students from other continents and get to speak to many professionals in the field”.

The competition consisted of simulated trade law disputes which the teams presented to panels. Twenty teams of universities students from nine countries participated in Kenya. The global round of the 17th John H Jackson Moot Court Competition will be held in Switzerland from June 4 until June 8 2019.

FEATURED IMAGE: The Wits team at a prize giving, from left to right, Dr Franziska Sucker, Simphiwe Mkhumane, Mpendulo Mfeka, Refiloe Mpati, and Yasmina Poundja. Photo: Provided.

RELATED ARTICLES: