ABOUT

 

I am a legal and language specialist with many years’ experience in legal practice and government service, and specialised English language skills.

I was admitted as an attorney in 1987 and as a conveyancer in 1998.  I practised briefly in Carletonville till 1993, and thereafter in Knysna with Mosdell Pama & Cox, of which I was a director, till 2008.  As a small town practitioner I gained broad experience in commercial, personal, property and estate legal matters.

I hold a BA degree from Rhodes University majoring in English and Legal Theory (1981), a BA Hons degree from UNISA specialising in English literature (2008), an LLB degree from Wits University (1983), two LLM degrees from UCT specialising in environmental and constitutional law (2012 and 2016), and a doctoral LLD degree from North West University (2023).  My doctoral research was centred around finding solutions for the alleviation of structural poverty in South Africa in the context of the constitutional system.

I also hold a certificate in copy editing from the UCT Get Smarter Programme (2022).

Since 2008 I have worked for the City of Cape Town in various specialised legal roles, including the fields of property law,  land use planning law, environmental law, administrative law,  municipal law, water law and waste law,  and have most recently become a specialist practitioner in energy law. I have authorisation from the City to do private consulting work as I have entered my pre-retirement phase.  Despite my diverse background in law,  I now consider myself to be a public law specialist, as I have found this to be an area of passionate interest. 

Throughout my time in public service I have engaged in various academic endeavours and have co-authored a Juta publication on renewable energy development in municipalities, as well as various chapters of Prof Anel du Plessis’ Environmental law and local government in South Africa (both editions).  In 2022 I published a paper on sustainable development and urban poverty in South Africa, in the Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal.  Over the years I have participated in a number of training workshops for municipal officials funded by the Hanns Seidel Foundation and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, as well as various seminars and workshops in my fields of interest. Having completed my doctoral studies, I will be continuing with postdoctoral research and writing.