Written by Qurat-ul-Ain Ahmad
As I walked to the venue, I could already feel the buzz of excitement. The Women’s Jail, located on Constitution Hill, was an appropriate venue choice to facilitate the 4th Annual SWCM Colloquium. This year’s theme for the colloquium was about ‘activism through law: bridging the divide.’ It highlighted how legal professionals play a role in advocating for social justice and equity in South Africa.
Upon my entrance, breathing in the fresh winter air prepared me for a busy day ahead. The SWCM team and I started preparing for the day, preparing the refreshments, registration table, and ensuring that everything was in order. We took one last tour of the venue and soon positioned ourselves to carry out our duties for the day. I had the pleasure of ushering the guests into the venue. This task afforded me the opportunity to meet new people and greet them with a warm welcoming smile. In the preparation leading up to the event, Advocate Sinako mentioned that paying attention to details goes a long way and I noticed that when I saw everyone set up the banners, the gift bag tables, the lighting of the room and the setup overall was perfected with attention to detail.
The program started off with a recital by a former SWCM mentee Nyelti Rikhotso. After which advocate Adila Hassim addressed the room. Her words were impactful, raising awareness regarding multiple aspects of law such as the treatment action campaign and the land access movement of South Africa. This sparked my interest and encouraged me to move further from my academics and do extensive research about the topics advocate Adila Hassim spoke about. I would have liked to engage more with her and hear her thoughts about other aspects of law, unfortunately, that was not possible. Activist Zulaikha Patel’s story about her parents’ marriage that was frowned upon inspired me to reflect about other interracial marriages that have taken place and despite it being legal, families refuse to accept such marriages and Zulaikha mentioned that despite law changing, people, themselves need to change and people need to become activists because ultimately that is when change becomes impactful on a larger scale. She also mentioned that the Constitution of South Africa will aid her to use her voice which led me to appreciate the fact that our country has truly come a long way.
Being surrounded by such great personalities brought a sense of confidence to me. I genuinely feel that after the colloquium I went home as a wiser person. What I appreciated the most was the interactive networking session that took place after the speakers finished. I gained insight into different law firms; what their expertise was about and how
I could take the most benefit from them in the near future because as advocate Shireen shared that we need be involved in the movement and we need the services of people present in that room because change can only occur when you realise that whatever your path, in law is, it has scope for social justice.
One of the highlights of my day was when my colleague spoke to someone who was in the legal profession, mentioning how UNISA students feel discouraged when applying for the different programs that law firms offer but our doubts were removed, and we felt at ease after hearing the reply. During the conversation it was mentioned that UNISA students need to put in effort so that they too can reap the benefits as any other student from a different university would.
As I walked away from the venue, my feet were in scalding pain, due to the amount of walking and running around I had done throughout the day, whilst wearing ankle boot heels which made it worse, I was certain that after the colloquium I went home as an enriched individual.
