Six years after qualifying as an attorney, Siyabonga Galela has finally been admitted to practice as a legal practitioner, following financial difficulties which prevented her from receiving her certificate after she completed her degree.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) last week ruled in her favour, granting her admission to practise and authorising her enrollment as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa under the Legal Practice Act.
At the time of her qualifying as an attorney, Galela launched an ex parte application for her admission as a legal practitioner to the high court in June 2023. She attached a statement of her academic record from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) which reflected that she had qualified for a Bachelor of Arts degree on December 19, 2018 and had graduated on March 28, 2019.
It did not reflect that she had outstanding fees owed to the university of R143 000, an amount which has since been settled.
At the beginning of 2020, Galela signed an acknowledgment of debt with the university as she had been unable to make full payment since 2018. The financial situation of her family deteriorated and once she commenced employment at a law firm, she contributed to the household expenses.
According to court papers Galela was also “not fit and proper to be admitted as a legal practitioner” at the time due to her not making full disclosures to the court in terms of her employment.
The judgment read that at the time Galela commenced her admission application, she was employed (at a law firm) and completed a practical vocational training contract (PVT contract) with a director at the law firm.
Galela, in her supplementary affidavits, submitted that she had completed a practical vocational training contract (PVT contract) with a director at a law firm but could not attach her LLB degree as the university did not issue degree certificates to graduates who were in arrears with their fees.
Galela also submitted that in 2014, she became a director of Varsigator Solutions. However, the app did not gain much traction and in 2017 it became impractical for her to pursue any work on developing the app while continuing with her studies.
In 2017, the company was “completely dormant and had entered the deregistration process”.
“Galela attributes her failure to obtain prior written consent to her belief, genuinely held, that her directorship of Varsigator had automatically ceased once it stopped trading in 2017.
She, therefore, was of the opinion that when she entered into a PVT contract on 1 February 2021, the company had been defunct for some four years.
Accordingly, it did not interfere with her practical vocational training,” the judgment read.
Judge Nicholls ruled: “Courts will not keep a poverty-strickent graduate out of the legal profession.
“Where an applicant fails to attach a degree certificate, a full and detailed explanation for this omission must be provided.
“There are sufficient grounds to condone her non-compliance with rule 22.1.5. In addition, I am satisfied that her reason for non-payment of her university tuition is not due to any dishonesty on her part but rather a genuine inability to pay her fees at the time.
“I am of the view that Ms Galela is a fit and proper person to be admitted to the legal profession.”
Attempts to reach Galela for comment were unsuccessful by deadline on Monday.
Cape Times