Rhodes students pip Wits to score trip to Switzerland

Rhodes experienced a day of calm yesterday
Rhodes experienced a day of calm yesterday
Four students from Rhodes University in Grahamstown will be travelling to Geneva‚ Switzerland‚ to represent Africa in a competition showcasing legal argument.

The Rhodes University team‚ consisting of four final year LLB students — Nkosazana Lulu Dweba‚ Steph Stretch‚ Declan Williamson and Moya Vaughan-Williamson — has won the African Regional Round of the European Law Students Association (ELSA) Moot Court Competition. The runner-up team was from Wits University‚ who pleaded against Rhodes in both the preliminary and final oral rounds.

The foursome won after arguing a question of international trade law focusing on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement).

They will now be representing Rhodes University and Africa in Geneva in the final oral round in June‚ the university said in a statement.

Ten teams competed in what was only the third African Regional Round of the competition‚ hosted for the first time at Rhodes University. Participants included teams from Kenya‚ Uganda‚ Tanzania‚ Ethiopia and South Africa.

One of the prizes for the competition is the award of a fully paid scholarship for a one year LLM degree at the University of Barcelona’s IELPO programme‚ which was won by Rhodes team member Nkosazana Lulu Dweba.

“I was surprised when I made the team‚ never mind that I got best orator for the prelim and the grand final‚” Dweba said. “It was a good learning experience as there is very high quality in the competition‚” she added.

The team comprised three speakers — Williamson‚ Stretch and Dweba — and a researcher‚ Vaughan-Williams‚ who was also the team captain.

Rhodes law students have competed and come 14th in the Geneva competition in each year that Africa has been included in the competition.

“I’m super excited about Geneva. We were terrified that we would be the first Rhodes team not to get through‚” Stretch said.

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