Members of the Black Lawyers Association Student Chapter with Advocate Lihle Mapipa-Ndlovu (in yellow) celebrating Women’s Month.Black Lawyers Association Celebrates ‘Phenomenal Women’ in the Legal Fraternity
In the celebration of Women’s Month, UKZN’s Black Lawyers Association Student Chapter recently recognised UKZN alumnus, Advocate Lihle Mapipa-Ndlovu, for her valuable contribution to the legal fraternity during an event held on the Howard College campus.
The Association has adopted the theme: “Women With a Drive in the Legal Fraternity to celebrate and highlight female lawyers who are trailblazers in the legal profession.”
As a member of the Black Lawyers Association, an admitted advocate of the High Court and the former chairperson of the KZN Gaming and Betting Board’s Social, Ethics and Transformation Committee, Mapipa-Ndlovu is the perfect candidate to inspire and motivate Law students.
During her address at the event, she spoke of the personal and professional rewards and challenges involved in pursuing a career in Law and how she maintains a balance between being a wife, a mother of three and a legal practioner.
‘Doing one’s task diligently, empowers oneself which later results in a variety of opportunities coming your way,’ said Mapipa-Ndlovu.
Speaking about the paths she has chosen and why she left a successful career as magistrate, Mapipa-Ndlovu said: ‘I disliked penal jurisprudence as I could not bear sentencing criminals, as this went against my ethics. It was indeed a sad part of the trial. I hated seeing people go down. I’m not much of a magistrate, I am more of a defender by nature, that’s why I had to leave. It is important to identify your strengths and capabilities to prevent frustration in the workplace.’
Black Lawyers Association Student Chapter’s Chairperson, Ms Pearl Biyela, said that such forums were important as students often made career choices with limited knowledge on how they could use their qualification to its full potential.
‘As Mapipa-Ndlovu said “a Lawyer can work almost anywhere and be almost anything because all you have to do is know the Law and apply it to the facts at hand”,’ said Biyela.
Thandiwe Jumo