Language Barrier Does Not Deter Master’s Graduate

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Language and distance were not a factor when it came to a choice of university for Mr Jerome Habonimana who was awarded a Master of Laws in Constitutional Theory, Law and Litigation.

While French and Kirundi are the official languages in Habonimana’s home country Burundi, in east-central Africa, his mind was set on UKZN, an English-medium university. ‘I chose UKZN for my master's studies as I believed that it was the right place to be if I wanted to achieve my goal of a high-quality education. Furthermore, I wanted to study in English as I had a background in Continental Civil Law and I wanted to have a knowledge of Common Law, as well.’

His dissertation, which was supervised by UKZN law expert Professor Stephen Pete, involved a critical analysis of the operation of the South African equality courts, specifically in relation to hate speech.

Recognising that little attention has been paid to the dangers surrounding the operation of equality courts, Habonimana’s dissertation compares the equality courts to the civil courts on the one hand, and to the criminal courts on the other. It shows that the equality courts appear to be somewhat of a strange hybrid. The study contributes to the body of knowledge as it identifies the potential dangers and draws attention to the need for clear guidance on litigation in equality matters in South Africa.

While English is his third language, Habonimana took advantage of the editorial support offered by the University and consulted with a language editor. ‘The quality of the work would have been poorer if I had not worked closely with Dr Caroline Goodier, and she and my supervisor gave me the inspiration and support which enabled me to successfully complete my LLM,’ he said.

Pete said: ‘I am very proud of Habonimana because he is French speaking and comes from a country which follows the Civil Law as opposed to the Common Law tradition. Through hard work, he succeeded in passing his LLM coursework dissertation with a good upper second-class mark. He worked intensively with Dr Goodier on his English language writing skills.’

Commenting on Habonimana’s achievement Goodier said: ‘For our students who are working in a second or third language, there is the added challenge of grammatical competence. Jerome has achieved richly deserved success in his LLM, tackling a difficult topic in this third language!’

Habonimana added that his decision to attend a university like UKZN that embraces diversity also provided him with a great opportunity to work in a team, meet new people and connect with them on a personal level. He is currently participating in a journal article development programme facilitated by Goodier in the School of Law.

Next on Habonimana’s agenda is a PhD! ‘I’m delighted that Professor Pete is prepared to act as my supervisor. This means that I will again have the pleasure of working with him. We have started to work on an academic article based on my research.’

Words: Hazel Langa

Photograph: Supplied