Four schools in the Eastern Cape flew the flag for the province in this year’s National Schools Moot Court competition at Pretoria University on October 5 and 6.
The province – represented by Queen’s Girls High from Komani, Holy Cross High School from Mthatha, Ezingcuka High School from Centane and Stirling High School from East London – were crowned overall winners of the moot court competition.
Moot court is an extra-curricular activity at many law schools in which participants take part in simulated court or arbitration proceedings, usually involving drafting memorials or legal essays and participating in oral argument.
In SA, this extra-curricular activity has been adapted by the department of basic education and department of justice, in collaboration with University of Pretoria, to take place in high schools for pupils in Grade 10 and Grade 11.
Each year, the University of Pretoria issues a hypothetical case in which schools are required to prepare written essays.
The first step of the competition covered the submission of written essays whereby each school is required to prepare material for both teams – namely the applicant and respondent. From the schools that submitted essays, only 10 schools were shortlisted to proceed to the provincial oral rounds which took place on September 14.
Four schools proceeded to the national rounds.
The Eastern Cape schools, in addition to winning the overall competition, also walked away with additional awards:
The overall best oralist: Jabu Seti from Queen’s Girls High in Chris Hani West District
The best oralist in the preliminary rounds: Liso Mtwana from Holy Cross High School
The essay for best applicant was awarded to Solomon Mahlangu High School from Nelson Mandela Bay Metro....