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LEADERS IN DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Making Justice and Dispute Resolution Accessible to all


Alternative methods in Dispute Resolution are potentially better platforms for Access to Justice. We teach, develop, promote and practice non-adversarial and non-exclusionary methods of dispute resolution, less encumbered by over-regulation and the complex and artificial rules of litigation that have high potential to damage and, in some cases, destroy lives.


Mediation and Arbitration taught and practised through the lens of Restorative Justice can get us closer to a peace that arises out of the work of true justice.

about

Sheena Jonker

is the founder and CEO of ADR Network SA and Access to Justice. She holds a BA majoring in legal studies and religious studies as well as an LLB and is currently undertaking a Master of Laws in Constitutional Litigation.


In 1997 she was admitted to the High Court as an attorney and conveyancer and she practised as such for the first decade of her career. She has devoted the second decade of her career to the practice of alternative dispute resolution and restorative justice which she practices and teaches.


She has also taught law extensively. Subjects taught include Entrepreneurial Law and Commercial Law, Insolvency, Taxation, Labour Law, Evidence, Criminal Procedure, Civil Procedure, Communications Law, Sport Law and Media Law. As a law teacher, she was also consulted as a subject matter specialist and was retained to develop teaching and learning material. She is well known for and widely consulted for her ability to assist in bringing about resolution in complex and high conflict legal disputes. She is consulted as a mediator, arbitrator and restorative justice practitioner with special expertise in:


  • Commercial Mediation and Commercial Arbitration
  • Labour Mediation and Labour Arbitration
  • Divorce Mediation and Family Dispute Resolution
  • Intellectual property, taxation and insurance dispute resolution
  • Domestic Violence, Sexual Violence and Child and Victim protection
  • All her work is filtered through the lens of Restorative Justice
  • Through non-profit platform, Access to Justice, she also assists in mobilizing legal and dispute resolution resources for vulnerable persons and communities. Access to Justice has consulted widely, and in the main, successfully on behalf of:


Shackdweller movements and communities


The #feesmustfall movement. Its work centred on protecting legitimate dialogue, counter-veiling police and private security brutality and promoting and helping to build peace agreements

The #metoo #totalshutdown and #aminext movements. Access to Justice, lead by Sheena Jonker is facilitating the Phoenix Rising Project along with public interest lawyer, Tracey Lomax. This project is currently responding to victims who need assistance exiting violent situations, prosecuting and/or suing for personal damages on behalf of survivors and facilitating victim-centric restorative justice platforms where appropriate.

Sheena Jonker writes extensively and is a member of the international Integrative Law Movement, has contributed to J Kim Wright’s book, ‘Lawyers as Changemakers’ and has been published by Thought Leader and Media for Justice. Her work has also been shortlisted by the Hague Institute for Innovation in Law (2016).


Sheena Jonker can be contacted at sheena@adr-networksa.co.za

ADR Network SA

is a private dispute resolution agency in South Africa.


It exists to provide services in Alternative Dispute Resolution including mediation, arbitration and restorative justice problem solving. Train mediators, arbitrators and restorative justice practitioners. Regulate the conduct of its panel member mediators, arbitrators and restorative justice practitioners from its position as a voluntary compliance and regulatory body. Network together like-minded professionals involved in and with a passion for non-adversarial modes of dispute resolution, peacemaking and access to justice.



ADR Network SA was established by Sheena Jonker more than a decade ago out of her ADR practice and in response to the growing need for accessible and affordable mediation and arbitration services and training.


It provides services across Southern Africa and, sometimes, further afield. Its training has been sought out and attended by both local and international lawyers, judges, teachers, health practitioners, business persons, academics and many others.


It formed part of the Department of Justice Consultations on Court Annexed Mediation and many of its trained mediators and members have become accredited to the pilot project on Court Annexed Mediation.

our vision

Assist in raising the profile of mediation

and arbitration in South Africa.

1

Assist ADR practitioners in developing and

growing their own practices.

2

Manage referral work that we gain,

nationally (and even internationally).

3

Provide a platform for practitioners

to network with each other.

4

Assist in the promotion of other

practitioners’ and organizations’

training programs.

5

In the future, to launch an online journal and

to promote and provide a platform for

the academic and literary work of others.

6

To remain organic and to evolve according to the needs of ADR practitioners on the one hand, and disputants and would-be disputants on the other.

6

blog

War and Peace


(An extract from ‘Be Peace’, Sheena St Clair Jonker)

‘If you are lucky in this life,

A window will appear between two armies on a battlefield.

Instead of seeing their enemies in the window, the soldiers

See themselves as children. They stop fight-

Ing and go home

And sleep. When they wake up, the land is

Well again.’[i]

As I write this, we are around seven days into Israel having declared war on Hammas. This follows an attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. The context is a long and complex conflict that arose between Israel and Palestine following the establishment of the State of Israel.

The energetics for war in this world are extremely high right now. So, I believe, is the potential for peace.

In the wisdom tradition, each person would understand their own power and agency and would exercise circumspection and reverence in their own thoughts, words and deeds. This would be the product of increasing self-awareness and an expanded consciousness. On this basis, any work done to become more aware and conscious beings in this world is a contribution to this world and, in particular a contribution to the increase of peace on earth.

In the wisdom tradition, it was thought that if we were at war with one person in our lives, then we were contributing the kind of energy that was required to start, run and sustain war in this world.

The corollary would be that if we were making peace in one relationship, in the world around us, we were contributing to the increase of peace on earth.

It is on this basis that we are able to understand clearly that each of us can and does contribute to war in this world and, moreover, that each of us can and does contribute to the establishment of peace on earth.

As we become more aware, either through intentional conscious work, or through an encounter with great love (generally a liminal experience) or great suffering, we start to choose consciously which we want to contribute to: war or peace.

It is thought that Christ was a product of the wisdom tradition. It is no wonder then that more than two thousand years ago he was teaching about the significant impact our thoughts and intentions may have. ‘You’ve heard it taught that you should not murder’, he might have said, ‘but I tell you that if you hate your brother or sister in your heart, you are already guilty of murder.’

Might this have been because he knew the power of the individual’s thoughts and intentions and that they affect the whole thing.

Alan Watts said something to the effect of

‘You are part of what the entire universe is doing in the same way that a wave is part of what the entire ocean is doing.’

Our awareness of how powerful we are could change everything.

Our thoughts, words and deeds can contribute to war in this world or help to establish peace on earth.

We get to choose:

War or Peace

Email: Sheena@adr-networksa.co.za

(For speaker engagements, to train with us or to retain the services of a mediator)

Clear minds. Open hearts. Empowered Wills


We are at our best when our minds are clear, our hearts open and we have full agency over our will.

Largely rooted in adversarialism, competition and combat, our various social, economic and political systems and, certainly our legal system have us living and operating with less coherence than we should, with fearful hearts and therefore inflamed nervous systems and generally with very low agency. So we go about our lives with medicine being done to us or for us rather than with us. Justice is done to us or for us rather than with us. And we could say the same to varying degrees for the way we parent, our economic structures and of, course the way we do politics.


We are surrounded by high-combat, low agency systems that do not foster clear mindedness, open heartedness and empowered wills.


Using alternative dispute resolution systems, we could promote discursive processes (like mediation) in all our systems. This is how we help to push power back to the people-this is how we empower individuals so that we work towards justice co-created, health and well-being co-created, politics co-created and so on. We reduce fear, we increase co-herence and we re-learn how to use our free will in the service of humanity.

Clear minds. Open hearts. Empowered Wills


In peace,

Sheena Jonker

sheena@adr-networksa.co.za

[i] With thanks and apologies to Charles Dickens

[ii] For previous blogs: ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN THE TIME OF COVID 19 | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za) and ADR, HUMAN RIGHTS AND COVID-19 | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za) and LOCKDOWN-RELATED DISPUTES AND THE ROLE OF ADR | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za)

[iii] Kenneth Cloke, ‘Politics, Dialogue and the Evolution of Democracy’

[iv] War and Peace


(An extract from ‘Be Peace’, Sheena St Clair Jonker)

‘If you are lucky in this life,

A window will appear between two armies on a battlefield.

Instead of seeing their enemies in the window, the soldiers

See themselves as children. They stop fight-

Ing and go home

And sleep. When they wake up, the land is

Well again.’[i]

As I write this, we are around seven days into Israel having declared war on Hammas. This follows an attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. The context is a long and complex conflict that arose between Israel and Palestine following the establishment of the State of Israel.

The energetics for war in this world are extremely high right now. So, I believe, is the potential for peace.

In the wisdom tradition, each person would understand their own power and agency and would exercise circumspection and reverence in their own thoughts, words and deeds. This would be the product of increasing self-awareness and an expanded consciousness. On this basis, any work done to become more aware and conscious beings in this world is a contribution to this world and, in particular a contribution to the increase of peace on earth.

In the wisdom tradition, it was thought that if we were at war with one person in our lives, then we were contributing the kind of energy that was required to start, run and sustain war in this world.

The corollary would be that if we were making peace in one relationship, in the world around us, we were contributing to the increase of peace on earth.

It is on this basis that we are able to understand clearly that each of us can and does contribute to war in this world and, moreover, that each of us can and does contribute to the establishment of peace on earth.

As we become more aware, either through intentional conscious work, or through an encounter with great love (generally a liminal experience) or great suffering, we start to choose consciously which we want to contribute to: war or peace.

It is thought that Christ was a product of the wisdom tradition. It is no wonder then that more than two thousand years ago he was teaching about the significant impact our thoughts and intentions may have. ‘You’ve heard it taught that you should not murder’, he might have said, ‘but I tell you that if you hate your brother or sister in your heart, you are already guilty of murder.’

Might this have been because he knew the power of the individual’s thoughts and intentions and that they affect the whole thing.

Alan Watts said something to the effect of

‘You are part of what the entire universe is doing in the same way that a wave is part of what the entire ocean is doing.’

Our awareness of how powerful we are could change everything.

Our thoughts, words and deeds can contribute to war in this world or help to establish peace on earth.

We get to choose:

War or Peace

Email: Sheena@adr-networksa.co.za

(For speaker engagements, to train with us or to retain the services of a mediator) and

War and Peace


(An extract from ‘Be Peace’, Sheena St Clair Jonker)

‘If you are lucky in this life,

A window will appear between two armies on a battlefield.

Instead of seeing their enemies in the window, the soldiers

See themselves as children. They stop fight-

Ing and go home

And sleep. When they wake up, the land is

Well again.’[i]

As I write this, we are around seven days into Israel having declared war on Hammas. This follows an attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. The context is a long and complex conflict that arose between Israel and Palestine following the establishment of the State of Israel.

The energetics for war in this world are extremely high right now. So, I believe, is the potential for peace.

In the wisdom tradition, each person would understand their own power and agency and would exercise circumspection and reverence in their own thoughts, words and deeds. This would be the product of increasing self-awareness and an expanded consciousness. On this basis, any work done to become more aware and conscious beings in this world is a contribution to this world and, in particular a contribution to the increase of peace on earth.

In the wisdom tradition, it was thought that if we were at war with one person in our lives, then we were contributing the kind of energy that was required to start, run and sustain war in this world.

The corollary would be that if we were making peace in one relationship, in the world around us, we were contributing to the increase of peace on earth.

It is on this basis that we are able to understand clearly that each of us can and does contribute to war in this world and, moreover, that each of us can and does contribute to the establishment of peace on earth.

As we become more aware, either through intentional conscious work, or through an encounter with great love (generally a liminal experience) or great suffering, we start to choose consciously which we want to contribute to: war or peace.

It is thought that Christ was a product of the wisdom tradition. It is no wonder then that more than two thousand years ago he was teaching about the significant impact our thoughts and intentions may have. ‘You’ve heard it taught that you should not murder’, he might have said, ‘but I tell you that if you hate your brother or sister in your heart, you are already guilty of murder.’

Might this have been because he knew the power of the individual’s thoughts and intentions and that they affect the whole thing.

Alan Watts said something to the effect of

‘You are part of what the entire universe is doing in the same way that a wave is part of what the entire ocean is doing.’

Our awareness of how powerful we are could change everything.

Our thoughts, words and deeds can contribute to war in this world or help to establish peace on earth.

We get to choose:

War or Peace

Email: Sheena@adr-networksa.co.za

(For speaker engagements, to train with us or to retain the services of a mediator)


We Are All Capable of Great Harm


And, we are all capable of extra-ordinary good.

As many of you know, we are committed to lifelong learning as we go about our work in ADR, Mediation and Peacemaking. We always have more to learn. Through our programs, we empower or trainees and our panellists with head knowledge, heart knowledge and practical know-how. Pedagogy and Praxis.

I am becoming more and more convinced that both our pedagogy and our praxis should be love. Taught by Love itself.

We commit the first part of our day to stillness, prayer, meditation. Since 2020, when the world changed, I have a standing and open invitation for any and all to join me in this daily morning devotion. My faith has been the fuel that has carried me forward through life’s highs and lows. My Christian Faith informs my understanding of justice: the Cross points to and models a justice that restores.

In our morning devotions, I seek out the wisdom of other faith traditions which always fortifies my own:

-the story of the Sufi master that loses his keys to his house and goes looking for them in the long grass outside. His students join him to look and ask him where he lost them. ‘Inside the house’, he says. ‘Then why are we looking out here?’ they cry. ‘Because there is more light out here’ he says. And they carry on searching where they know the keys cannot be. Like the parables of Jesus, stories like this can be perplexing, and in the tradition of Judaism, a truth, like a diamond, can be turned over and over to reveal something new. For me, the truth of this story is that when we have lost something, there will be many willing to help us seek in the wrong place, the easy place.

-the Liberation Journey as taught by Rabbi Nahum. We get to understand how the Exodus story is the story of many of our lives on so many levels and that true freedom lies in a knowing and a being. The knowing being that the Great I Am loves each one of us unconditionally just as we are and it is this knowingness and beingness that dismantles the propensity each one of us has for harm. I am more convinced each day that the extent to which each of us knows that we are loved and the beloved of the Source of all that is the extent to which we cease being potentially harmful in this world.

-The Kiva and the Ladder to the Light, in the tradition of the Navajo people. As taught by Steven Charleston, we climb from the darkness to the light by climbing the ladder to the light: the rung of faith, the rung of blessing, the rung of hope, the rung of community, the rung of action, the rung of renewal, the rung of transformation. This morning we climbed the rung of hope and we were reminded of signs of hope:

‘The signs are all around us. We can see them springing up like wildflowers after the prairie rain. People who had fallen asleep are waking up. People who had been content to watch are wanting to join. People who never said a word are speaking out. The tipping point of faith is the threshold of spiritual energy, where what we believe becomes what we do. When that power is released, there is no stopping it, for love is a force that cannot be contained. Look and see the thousands of new faces gathering from every direction. There is the sign of hope for which you have been waiting.’

Easter, in my faith tradition, is a season of hope: ‘it may be Friday, but Sunday is coming’, we might say. It is a reminder of the death and resurrection and seems to be the way that the whole thing works. Things may look bad now, but we have hope.

My hope for you, in this season, is that you see that the way things are is not necessarily the way things should be or will be and that each thought we entertain, each word we bring forth and each action we carry out affects the whole thing.

When our thoughts, words and deeds are rooted in the hope of something better all kinds of possibilities manifest.

When we took our first breath we had infinite potential for extra-ordinary good. Our morning reflections have taught us some of the traditions of Celtic Christianity and the many teachers who would dare teach original blessing rather than original sin. The theology of original sin seems to have emerged in the 4th Century when the Church got mixed up with Empire. Those who dared teach that we are uttered forth or spoken into being from the very substance of God were tried, often convicted as heretics and either cast out or killed. The message was clear, Empire, and the centrality of its abuse of power is threatened by Love. I’ve capitalised ‘love’ pointing to Love as the source of all that some of us know as God. Empire had to crush our understanding of Love otherwise it (Empire) would not survive. In the 4th century three things happened: Imago Dei was crushed (you cannot control masses who know themselves to be uttered forth from the very substance of Love itself or in the likeness of God), the feminine was subjugated in the systems of power over and there was a permission to exploit the earth and all her creatures.

And here we are, our systems still bare the mark of the unholy alliance between church and empire. If you have been into a court lately and had the sense that at the deepest level you do not feel safe there-whether you are a party, a lawyer or part of the judiciary-something about the adversarial system, you can feel, is not supportive of anyone’s well-being, then you may be sensing that the way things are is not the way things need to be. That whilst each of us may be capable of great harm, the first part, the original part is that we were literally uttered from Love Itself and our real self, who we really are, is capable of, and moreover, created for great good.

ADR is the ground of being of the next legal system. Rooted in restoration, transformation and healing, we need systems created and formed in what always was from the beginning: original blessing. I’m with the ‘heretics’ on this. I refuse to continue the ruse of the Caesars and the Herods of today. We can restore the template. We can re-create all of our systems in Love.

Easter is a reminder of how Empire tried to kill Love and it’s a reminder that Love will have the last say.

We choose the many proliferations of death and destruction through our co-operation with the adversarial system or we can say no, I will not conform to the patterns set in place and retained in place by the Herods and Caesars of this world. I will not aid them in their sleight of hand that has me conforming to their way.

May you experience, in the very depths of your being, the wisdom of Easter, the ancient knowledge of the paschal mystery at its centre, the message that is for all of us: the way things are is not the way things need to be.

Peace, grace, hope, Love

Sheena Jonker


The Tyranny of Civility


Some years ago, a student was celebrated across our media for clearing up rubbish bins that had been upturned by outsourced workers protesting to be insourced (in other words to be part of an employment relationship that honoured basic human dignity).


I explained this esteeming of the ‘genteel’ and ‘civil’ over actual justice as ‘drinking tea while Rome burns’ to my kids.


My first-born got this tattoed on her arm in the place I was hoping she would get ‘Mom’ tattooed.


Perhaps my last-born will ‘do me nice’.

In something of the same vein, we are still being fooled into esteeming civility and ‘order’ over the chaos that often accompanies taking action to heal.


The media, buoyed by certain political groupings, have convinced us that today’s Shutdown is planned violence or criminal activity.


Chillingly, it resounds with the campaign that was embarked on nationally and internationally to recast the Marikana miners as criminals rather than protestors. There is a materiality to these kind of campaigns. And, that materiality may be actual bloodshed.


In all the noise and the attempts to convince us to recast would-be protestors as hooligans and criminals, we have lost their message. And, it may be a lifesaving message for every single one of us: we cannot possibly continue to hold to the idea that any of us have a sustainable future whilst the majority of us live with far less then they need and a very small number of us live in excess.


If we dialled down the noise of these campaigns and actually listened, we would learn about how our energy grid is held hostage not only to the corruption that we think we can see but a far more insidious corruption of long term and evergreen contracts that prop up international corporations whilst we pay more and more for electricity. This, without even starting on how the global South is being pressured to accelerate a just energy transition even though we are not the biggest polluters whilst the global North continues to pollute our mother whilst running wars to boot.


If we had eyes to see and ears to hear we may not be so quick to cast those speaking up as criminals whilst we partake in muting and shutting down their voices to the detriment of us all whilst unknowingly propping up the biggest crime of all which is the giant pyramid scheme of capital. As more and more of the middle class joins the poor in debt and uncertainty, it is time to join the poor in voice.


Because ‘genteel’ society puts the Mandela’s and MLK’s of this world on T-shirts, we have often forgotten that true peacemakers are often cast as the terrorists of this world, the menaces, the ‘disturbers of the peace’. We celebrate a recast, tamed, palatable version of these disrupters.


In his letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr King wrote:


‘My citing the creating of tension as part of the work of non-violent resistance may sound rather shocking. But I must admit, I am not afraid of the word ‘tension’.

I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive non-violent tension which is necessary for growth.’


In Healing Resistance, Haga says that it is easier in the short term to sweep issues under the carpet and settle for a cheap yet ultimately unsustainable negative peace. It is an entirely different conversation to proactively work against violence and build toward a positive peace that includes justice for all. It requires us to lift the veil of injustice, he says and work to repair the harm.


We can create a negative peace by bombing countries or crushing protest. But that’s not peace. It never endures in the long-run.


Today’s protestors are lifting the veil on injustice. We can deny our own inbuilt sense of injustice and compassion by looking away in all kinds of circumstances. We can turn the television off when we see suffering. We can look to the ‘redemptive’ violence of the police and military as we attempt to quell our own fears. I completely get the fear that lingers from July 2021. I, too, lived the fear and uncertainty of that.


But, I sincerely believe our fears are misplaced and that celebrating the crushing of voices today by police and military might has us siding with a system that is going to end us all. Unless we use our freedom of choice to choose differently.


Getting to a true peace for us all involves acknowledging the harm in the first place. Taking on violence is not easy and it will not be without loss. Haga says it is about undoing harm, performing an operation that can heal the wound. The bigger the harm, the messier the operation will be.


We should not be fooled about where the real violence is at. We should not cheer on the violence of the state as it attempts to crush ‘the surfacing of the conflict that already exists so that it can finally be addressed’, as Haga writes.


We could all partake in the work of healing today and it might be as simple as not adding our voices to a conversation that says ‘good, shoot them’ or ‘good, lock them up.’


Today a healing portal opens up and it matters what we do with our thoughts, words and deeds as the conflict surfaces for us to grapple with.

It’s time for us to reclaim the political space as a space for problem-solving and conflict resolution.


Politicians should be peacemakers, skilled mediators. We, the people, get to take back this space from the rivalling gang turf wars that party politics have become. To do so requires that we bring our awareness to how our own thoughts, words and deeds affect the whole thing.


Today’s shutdown will disturb our ‘peace’ but we may learn that it is really disturbing our complacency, to use Haga’s term. Let’s not double down on our complacency by celebrating the violence of the state and its policing and military capacity.


Let’s celebrate the surfacing of this tension and the necessary conversations that go with it.

As Adrieene Maree Brown writes in Emergent Strategy:


‘Once there were kings and queens all over the earth. Someday we might speak of presidents and CEO’s in the past tense only. It is important that we fight for the future, get into the game, get dirty, get experimental. How do we create and proliferate a compelling vision of economies and ecologies that center humans and the natural world over the accumulation of material?’


Step one: to borrow yet another term from Haga, we resist the tyranny of civility.


Sheena Jonker

ADR Network SA and Access to Justice SA

sheena@accesstojustice.co.za

20 March 2023


Healers


What if


Parents saw themselves as healers

Teachers saw themselves as healers

Lawyers saw themselves as healers

Mediators saw themselves as healers

Business owners saw themselves as healers

Doctors saw themselves as healers


If the work of healing is a commitment to the whole

If ‘holy’ shares the same root as ‘healed’ and ‘whole’

Then it follows that it is absolutely vital that more of us see ourselves as


Healers


In peace,

Sheena Jonker

sheena@adr-networksa.co.za

[i] With thanks and apologies to Charles Dickens

[ii] For previous blogs: ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN THE TIME OF COVID 19 | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za) and ADR, HUMAN RIGHTS AND COVID-19 | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za) and LOCKDOWN-RELATED DISPUTES AND THE ROLE OF ADR | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za)

[iii] Kenneth Cloke, ‘Politics, Dialogue and the Evolution of Democracy’

[iv] The Tyranny of Civility


The Birth of New Systems Rooted in Restorative Justice, Transformative Justice and Healing

Part 1: The Resurgence of Indigenous Knowledge Systems


The word ‘Indigenous’ has its etymological roots in indo from the Latin and Endina from the Greek.

Both iundicate the emergence from the very entrails of a place. 1 Gen indicates birth and geni spirit.

So, we can say that ‘indigenous’ is related to beings, wordlviews, values, ways of life and ways of

knowing engendered from and belonging to a land that existed before the conquisita and

colonization. 2

Indigenous peoples and knowledge systems are not homogenous. However, Davis says that their

axiologies, cosmologies, epistemologies and ontologies are strikingly similar across diverse

geographies and cultures across the globe. 3

Modern Restorative Justice emerges against the backdrop of heightened awareness that indigenous

knowledge systems grounded in an ecological ethos of inter-relatedness and collaboration have

much to offer our fractured world.

For more than Five Hundred Years Western Systems have brought us separation, competition and

subordination and have contributed to a crisis that imperils our future. 4 The destruction wrought by

systems of separation, hierarchy and competition can be felt in our bodies, our families,

communities and by animals, plant life, water and the earth. 5

The magnitude of destruction has us seeking alternative worldviews-ones that transform, restore

and heal. 6

It is in this context and against this backdrop that we see the rise of restorative justice,

transformative justice and abolitionist thought.

This resurgence fulfils a prophecy: during the 1500s, Native American Elders gathered in Mexico in

the early days of the onslaught of European Colonization. The Aztec Ruler predicted 500 years of

‘Dark Sun’. At the end of this, there would be a ‘Bright Sun’ of Human Consciousness. 7

It was also predicted that the condor signifying the South and Feminine and lunar energies would fly

with the Eagle signifying the North and Masculine and solar energies.

The prediction was that at the time of the Bright Sun, the two would re-unite and the ancient

knowledge of the earth would re-emerge from all four directions.

During the five hundred year period (the period of the Dark Sun), we have had the Papal Doctrine of

Discovery which sanctioned the conquest and subjugation of indigenous people across the earth, the

International Slave Trade, the Genocide of Native Americans, individualism, materialism and the

emergence of racial capitalism and the very notion of race itself. 8

According to this prophecy, we are moving into the period of the ‘Bright Sun’ and it is my view that

Restorative Justice will become the ground of being of all our systems-parenting, schooling,

workplace, economics, politics, the legal system and health.

In order to see its full expression in our systems, transformative justice and abolition will give us the

courage to identify systems that are not in service to humanity, abolish them and establish new

ones.

In my next piece on this, I will African Indigenous Justice against Western ideas on harm and

punishment and I will argue that we could establish superior systems if we learned African

Indigenous Knowledge systems

In peace,

Sheena Jonker

sheena@adr-networksa.co.za

[i] With thanks and apologies to Charles Dickens

[ii] For previous blogs: ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN THE TIME OF COVID 19 | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za) and ADR, HUMAN RIGHTS AND COVID-19 | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za) and LOCKDOWN-RELATED DISPUTES AND THE ROLE OF ADR | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za)

[iii] Kenneth Cloke, ‘Politics, Dialogue and the Evolution of Democracy’

[iv] http://www.adr-networksa.co.za/restorative-justice-state-capture-and-corruption/ and

http://www.adr-networksa.co.za/dudu-myeni/


1 The Little Book of Race and Restorative Justice, Fania E Davis (2019) Good Books p21

2 Davis, supra

3 Davis, Supra

4 Davis, Supra

5 Davis, Supra

6 Davis, Supra

7 Davis, Supra

8 Davis, Supra


Care over Cure


If we take an honest look around us, we partake in a lot of actions that help us to endure the distress of the systems we form part of.

An individual in an abusive situation may be told he or she needs to attend to their mental health. Whether we address this idea of working towards mental health by medicating the individual’s symptoms of distress (anxiety and/or depression) or we approach his or her distress seemingly more holistically and we indicate sleep, a good diet and exercise in the name of self-care, we may be missing the one thing, the only thing that is can actually eliminate the distress: this person needs to exit the environment in which he or she is being abused.

We may keep the symptoms of his or her distress at bay with medical approaches or wellness approaches but if we fail to remove the cause of the distress, we will forever be simply keeping the symptoms at may.

In the same way, we may look around us and be able to see the many ways in which we are simply coping with our distress without ever addressing the cause of the distress which may be a family system, a schooling system, a workplace system.

Very much like medicine, the legal system often offers us a potential ‘cure’ without every addressing the genesis of the breach.

ADR systems, precisely those that are discursive like Mediation, can help us to co-create systems of care that may help us to eliminate or reduce the extent to which all our current systems manifest great distress and therefore have us normalising inconsequential, at best, and wholly destructive at worst, attempts at cure.

Care over Cure

In peace,

Sheena Jonker

sheena@adr-networksa.co.za

[i] With thanks and apologies to Charles Dickens

[ii] For previous blogs: ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN THE TIME OF COVID 19 | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za) and ADR, HUMAN RIGHTS AND COVID-19 | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za) and LOCKDOWN-RELATED DISPUTES AND THE ROLE OF ADR | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za)

[iii] Kenneth Cloke, ‘Politics, Dialogue and the Evolution of Democracy’

[iv] http://www.adr-networksa.co.za/restorative-justice-state-capture-and-corruption/ and

http://www.adr-networksa.co.za/dudu-myeni/


Vantage


Understood as the point from where we see, the word, ‘Vantage’ can aid us in unpacking the systems in which we are, to a large extent inert non-participants in our own wellbeing.

So, continuing from what we have been unpacking, medicine is largely done to us or for us and not with us. Justice is largely done to us or for us and not with us. Education is largely done to us or for us and not with us. In the same vein, parenting, the workplace, economics and politics are largely done to us or for us and not with us.

Vantage, as the place from which we see, works best the higher we are. The more we rise, the more we see. If I have the advantage, at a rudimentary level, it may mean that I can see more than you and thus may be able to benefit more than you. If I have the disadvantage, at a rudimentary level, it may mean that I am in a lower place than you and can therefore not see what you can see and may not be able to benefit precisely because I cannot see what you can see.

Our systems advantage some (raise some to a higher place where they can see more and benefit more by that expanse of seeing) and disadvantage others (keep them in a place where they can see less and are unable to benefit by that expanse of seeing). These are often artificially crafted vantage positions and the artificiality is most often a product of economic prowess or economic lack. We can be artificially heightened to expansive seeing in ways that help us to gain way more than what we need. We can also be artificially lowered to places of limited seeing in ways that we are unable to meet our basic needs.

Most of our social systems do this: some are artificially ad-vantaged (given a great view) and others are artificially dis-advantaged (lowered into a dark place with no way of seeing what we need to see).

Whilst our systems artificially foster ad-vantage and dis-advantage, we will continue to see in parts. Seeing in parts rather than seeing the whole, hardly ever gets us what we need.

ADR processes like mediation, well-located within restoration and transformation can help us to be empowered agents in systems that affect us and in ways that we can participate in creating what we need.

ADR processes can help to raise us all so that we are each able to see more.

Vantage.

In peace,

Sheena Jonker

sheena@adr-networksa.co.za

[i] With thanks and apologies to Charles Dickens

[ii] For previous blogs: ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN THE TIME OF COVID 19 | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za) and ADR, HUMAN RIGHTS AND COVID-19 | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za) and LOCKDOWN-RELATED DISPUTES AND THE ROLE OF ADR | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za)

[iii] Kenneth Cloke, ‘Politics, Dialogue and the Evolution of Democracy’

[iv] http://www.adr-networksa.co.za/restorative-justice-state-capture-and-corruption/ and

http://www.adr-networksa.co.za/dudu-myeni/


Bound up in a web of intricate mutuality


Echoing the sentiments of Fania E Davis seeking to integrate racial justice and restorative justice, and Richard Rohr who emphasises the need to integrate our activism and contemplativism and Carolyn Myss who talks about the shift from the love of power to the power of love, we are bound up in an intricate web of reciprocal mutuality.

Systems that are not rooted in this understanding and that rather foster separation and division will lead to, or rather, are leading to the complete unravelling of our world. If we continue on this path, humanity has little chance of surviving.

And so we are at a crucial time in history where it is imperative, vital (literally life-giving ) that we look to and commit to, not just reforming existing systems, but re-imagining systems that support true justice, the high point of which, is that everyone has what they need. We need to birth new systems in economics and politics, and new legal and social systems.

It is my firm belief, and my commitment, that our work in restorative justice (making things right again), transformative justice (imagining, creating and birthing better systems), and the various methods in alternative dispute resolution like mediation, is part of how we create the next legal system. One that fosters and supports human inter-identity and human inter-relatedness and that also helps to restore humanity to a right relationship with earth and all of her creatures.

Fania E Davis writes about the indigenous roots of restorative justice and the communitarian philosophy of ubuntu which emphasises human inter-identity and inter-relationality with all dimensions of existence-other people, places, land, animals, water, air and so on. This view of inherent inter-relatedness affirms and supports the responsibility we bear to one another. It is quite obvious to me that Africa has the knowledge systems and capacity to build legal systems far superior to the adversarialism of the West that we have inherited and that we can be a significant part of building the future of what justice, and work in building justice looks like and manifests in the future.

Our work is the work of recognition rather than cognition. We deeply resonate with systems that bring healing, restoration and transformation rather than systems that create division and result in winners and losers. We intuitively yearn for systems that enhance human agency rather than fostering way too much power for some and way too little for others. We have a profound and enduring vision for systems that create enough for everyone, not systems that sustain way too much for some and hardly sustain and affirm life for others. The recognition is something of ‘of course, it was always meant to be this way’ rather than ‘oh, this is a novel idea’. Life affirming and life sustaining systems that do not harm should be intricately bound to our reverence for every it of life we encounter.

The next legal system will have everyone participating in the work of justice, of making things right again, of enough for everyone.

And so our work seeks to empower not only lawyers as mediators and purveyors of restorative justice and transformative justice but teachers, health workers, labourers, moms, dads, kids, entrepreneurs, spiritual teachers, faith leaders and all others involved in figuring out how we do life together.

Sheena Jonker

Sheena@adr-networksa.co.za


ADR, Mediation and Restorative Justice Roundup


It’s been a while since I blogged.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times[i]

Best (Well…in a manner of speaking)

2021 has been a strange year. A bit like the classic Tale of Two Cities. It was the Best of Times, It was the Worst of Times.

In Fact, I think my last blog happened in 2020. 2020 was the ushering in of a strange new life for us all on many levels. But it also comprised a confluence of events (Disaster, 4th IR, Rule 61A and the RAF shift toward mediation, amongst others) that highlighted the utility, resilience and significance of ADR processes, specifically mediation. Wake up suddenly and you’re in…uh…thrust into a world of online work. In our case, online dispute resolution and mediation and online training in dispute resolution and mediation.[ii]

For the most part, I have felt this to be exceptionally beneficial to ADR and mediation. As a platform upon which, I have long thought, we can better advance ideals in better access to justice, I am seeing much of that capacity-building manifest before my very (screen locked) eyes.

Naturally I am alive to the obstacles faced by many with insufficient access to connectivity and devices. However, I am absolutely certain that these challenges are more easily and practicably overcome than the spatial injustice, economic challenges and public transport issues that complicate access to our courts.

The Hague Institute for Innovation in Law talks about online courts and that establishing online courts alone is insufficient for what may lie ahead. Our focus needs to shift significantly toward informal processes like mediation.

I had written previously about how Ken Cloke had so profoundly seemed to see up ahead in his book, ‘Politics, Dialogue and the Evolution of Democracy’ wherein he writes an actual Chapter on pandemic (back in actual 2018) and he talks about the need for the language of co-operation, collaboration and bridgebuilding as he predicts that the power-based problem -solving structures (police, military and courts) will start to crumble.[iii]

A lot of this has been good for those of us who have advocated for ADR, Mediation and Restorative justice and we have seen some magnificent gains for which we remain in awe and deeply grateful. But we do remain reverend in the face of the enormity of the work that lies ahead.

Worst (in a manner of speaking)

2021 has been a little weird. And scary. A little more weird and scary than 2020 was. Well…for me.

The July unrest in Durban had a particular impact on me. Leaving aside the enormous impact for others (for the moment) and naturally for all of us as a society. I have an ability to look up ahead with hope and doggedly refuse the idea that things may just fall apart completely. In July my ability near abandoned me. I have been deeply saddened by the events of the past number of months. I have previously written about how I feel that the state capture commission is an exceptionally expensive exercise in public square spectacle allowing us to point and say: ‘Look, the evil is over there. None of it is within me’ rather than to do the self-reflection that we all need to do. I have also written previously about my view on the constitutional anomalies inherent within the commission and that if one understands onus, burden of proof and elements of crime and how complicated this all is in prosecuting commercial crime, I think the commission has very low potential to manifest actual successful prosecutions and convictions.[iv] All this I believe to be complicated further by what I regard as constitutional anomalies and deficiencies in the process. Of course, I must be honest, I am hell-bent on a justice that restores rather than seeking to punish and so naturally I am less than joyous about a process that, to my mind, nurtures within us feelings of bloodlust and revenge as we see the ‘bombsquad’ unleased on whomever we have been made to believe are the ‘bad guys’.

You can check out previous blogs (referenced in the endnotes) that further expound my views on this and what I think a restorationist approach may be.

National Strategic Plan on Gender Based Violence and Femicide: Pillar 3

I have been appointed one of the ambassadors in what is a state-side and civil society partnership attempt to address the scourge of GBVF in our country. Having worked extensively to address sexual violence and domestic violence, initially in practice as an attorney and for the past decade and a half via victim centric restorative justice and ADR Methods, I am deeply grateful for this platform to advocate for something that I believe so whole-heartedly in.

Pillar 3 has to do with ADR and Restorative Justice. Through her tireless work, Mpho Mdingi of ADR Network SA Limpopo has lead the way to ensure that ADR Network SA makes its contribution in this project helping to organize and develop the 100 days of Divorce Mediation and 120 Days of Divorce Mediation Projects.

ADR Network SA has contributed various forms of training to the project for its various stakeholders including the DOJ, the UNODC and the LPC.

Two weeks ago I presented a webinar on Integrative Justice: A holistic Problem-Solving approach to Justice. You can access the text of it here. Integrative Justice: Presentation for National Strategic Plan on GBVF (Pillar 3) | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za)

I was also interviewed by the UNODC for their publication on women in conflict the law in view of my work in Restorative Justice.

This Thursday at 2pm I will be presenting, along with Gabi McKellar on Restorative Justice for Women and Children. Please attend if you can.

The details are as follows:

Herewith the link for the Pillar 3 webinar on 30 September 2021 14h00 – 15h30

Restorative justice for women and children

Moderators: Mpho Kgabi & Tania Buitendag

Speakers: Sheena Jonker & Gabriella McKellar

Please forward the invite to all for distribution

CLICK HERE TO JOIN

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join on your computer or mobile app

Click here to join the meeting

Covid Injury in the Workplace and Vaccine Mandates: The Role of ADR

Please join us for this mediated discussion this Thursday at 6pm.

To RSVP and for zoom access details please email training@adr-networksa.co.za.



Mediation, Arbitration and Restorative Justice Training

Check out our programs and join us in the shift from the adversarial to the non-adversarial. From the Punitive to the Restorative.

Five Day Mediation Training: Training – Five Day Mediation Training | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za)

Wednesday Night School Series: Training – Wednesday School Series | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za)

Short Programs in various areas of ADR: Training – Online Short Training Programmes | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za)

One year Distance Learning programs in ADR and Restorative Justice: Training – Distance Learning Programs | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za)

Ongoing Professional Development for CPD: Training – Ongoing Professional Development for Mediators and Arbitrators | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za)

Panel Membership and Accreditation

Join our panel for annual accreditation and other benefits: Accreditation | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za) Accreditation | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za)

Provincial Structures

We have provincial structures in Limpopo, Gauteng and very soon in the Eastern Cape.

Limpopo, lead by Mpho Mdingi is opening new offices with the capacity for live local training, in person mediation and is putting a lot of energy behind stimulating court annexed mediation and Rule 41A. Get in touch with her at mpho@adr-networksa.co.za.

In peace,

Sheena Jonker

sheena@adr-networksa.co.za

[i] With thanks and apologies to Charles Dickens

[ii] For previous blogs: ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN THE TIME OF COVID 19 | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za) and ADR, HUMAN RIGHTS AND COVID-19 | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za) and LOCKDOWN-RELATED DISPUTES AND THE ROLE OF ADR | ADR Network SA (adr-networksa.co.za)

[iii] Kenneth Cloke, ‘Politics, Dialogue and the Evolution of Democracy’

[iv] http://www.adr-networksa.co.za/restorative-justice-state-capture-and-corruption/ and

http://www.adr-networksa.co.za/dudu-myeni/


INTEGRATIVE JUSTICE: Presentation for National Strategic Plan on GBVF (Pillar 3)


A FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT: TOUGH MINDS, TENDER HEARTS

In ancient times the lawyer was the healer in society. In the same way as the physician was the healer of the body, the lawyer was looked to in order to weave back together the unravelled threads of the tapestry of society. This was essentially the work of restoration of relationships that had been breached, injured or broken.

In modern times, the practice of law and the justice systems that it serves, has tended to become more and more rules based. And as with many professions and structures, often substance gives way to form. And so we may find a heavy bent on procedural justice or it’s pursuit and sometimes at the expense of substantive justice. Form over content, if you will.

The entire universe functions according to law. Our bodies function according to certain laws. There are laws that govern how healthy cells function. At a human physical level, we are at our healthiest when there is a head, heart balance. Or more comprehensively a head, heart, spirit, body balance. We are healthy when these aspects are integrated-they work as one. We become unhealthy when we live partially or in parts of ourselves. When we are all heart, we may become unhealthy. If we live mainly up in our heads, we may become unhealthy. If we are all spirit and we ignore our intellectual and physical well-being, we may become unhealthy. If we are all physicality and we ignore our intellectual, emotional and spiritual beings, we may become unhealthy or un-whole. All the different parts of ourselves are meant to work together in an integral way. We work best as whole systems when all the parts of ourselves work together as an integrated whole.

In the same ways, systems function best, serve society best when they work integratively. And so professions and administrative systems that serve society do well to adopt a whole systems approach.

So the integrative approach to law, to justice is that every problem, every legal dispute is best solved when regarded as and properly located and understood within the system that it is a part of or the system from which it manifests. An integrated, problem-solving approach to injustice is alive to the idea that we cannot solve problems and disputes in isolation or in a vacuum.

It also understands that what we do to one part of a system we do to the whole. Just as what we do to one part of our bodies, we do to the whole. What we do to one organ affects the whole. What we do to one cell, affects the whole.

WHAT IS THE SHIFT?

The shift is from two parties as opponents in a divorce dispute to two people who are part of a whole system, that must function, albeit, in a modified format, as a whole system beyond divorce particularly of there are children.

The shift is from the state in pursuit of an accused person to the state and accused as parts of a whole. The one part has allegedly injured the society that the state represents. How does each part come away with what it needs. If we deny that the injurer has needs and must be subject only to just desert then we participate in keeping cycles of violence firmly in place. The most dangerous humans are the ones with unmet needs. We know that.

The shift is from commercial partners locked in litigation in which one will emerge the winner and the other the loser to how do we repair what went wrong in ways that each will came away with what they need.

The high point of justice is that each party comes away with what they need and not just what we think they deserve.

In her book, Lawyers as Peacemakers, J Kim Wright quotes the following from Sheila Boyce:

‘Society made big advance(ment)s by requiring symbolic battle rather than actual battle.’ Boyce goes on that this symbolic battle is litigation in which each side presents their claims before a member of the elite who will then decide a winner and a loser. Law school assumes that this is the best environment for the practice of law where lawyers either do battle to resolve problems or they assist their clients in pursuit of means to avoid the battle. But there is always the underlying assumption that litigation may happen and so information and intentions are kept confidential and if the battle happens it is on the basis of win at all costs.

This does not foster a justice understood as rightly related individuals, making up rightly related families, making up rightly related communities and so on. What this does do is that it entrenches our ways of working on problems in parts, or partially, isolated a way from a the whole that each individual is a part of. The result is that collaboration, co-operation and problem-solving are not fostered and so we keep at trying to deal with the brokenness within our society symptomatically where the ‘cure’ is often convictions, incarcerations, suspensions, exclusions and the dichotomy between winners and losers.

Boyce says that in a similar way, business people incorporate themselves to protect themselves from liability. Now we have this huge, unwieldy and inhumane system in which those who have the most money, wield the most influence and power, profits are everything and millions go without what they need. She says that millions more spend their lives in prison and that lawyers and judges can be the linchpins in this system. The fundamental assumption is that we are separate and apart, potentially in conflict with each other, there is not enough to go around and that the strongest, wealthiest and smartest must be well-defended.

When someone commits a crime, we aim to convict, separate. Punish and deprive that person for a certain period of time. At some point, the thoughtful amongst us will take a look at the results and outcomes and start to question them-first the outcomes and then the assumptions that underpin them and keep them in place and we will say this is unsatisfactory.

Many lawyers come to feel jaded and dissatisfied with what they do with their time and energy, she says.

So we come to the central question.

IS HUMANITY A WHOLE, INTEGRATED SYSTEM WHERE EACH PERSON IS TO BE TREATED WITH LOVE AND COMPASSION OR IS EACH PERSON SEPARATE AND ENTITLED TO PURSUE HIS OR HER OWN EGOIC INTERESTS TO THE DETRIMENT OF AND WITHOUT REGARD TO THE EFFECT ON OTHERS?

Boyle says that this is more than about making lawyers happy, it is about changing the relationship between citizens and jurisprudence.

And so how do we change this relationship.

J Kim Wright Identifies a number of Vectors.

VECTORS

  1. Restorative Justice-addressing structural issues and shifting towards a justice that restores
  2. Therapeutic Jurisprudence-specialised problem-solving courts-Children’s Court, Family Court, Sexual Offences Court
  3. Mediation
  4. Collaborative Law
  5. Holistic Law

QUESTIONS FLOWING FROM THE CENTRAL QUESTION

Those who answered the central question in the affirmative have started to question the existential environment surrounding the legal and justice system:

What is we are not all separate and at odds with each other?

What if criminal justice is dehumanizing and degrading and keeps violence firmly in position in society?

Maybe litigated divorces are bad for parents and kids?

Maybe those who smoke weed should not be in prison?

Maybe sending the perpetrator to prison does not make them whole and does not stop the crime.

Maybe litigators are excited and energized by the battle but go home and wonder what they are contributing to.

By Sheena Jonker

sheena@adr-networksa.co.za

www.adr-networksa.co.za

RECOMMENDED READING AND SOURCES

J Kim Wright, Lawyers as Changemakers (S Jonker and Gabriela McKellar are contributors)

J Kim Wright, Lawyers as Peacemakers

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

SHEENA ST CLAIR JONKER

She obtained a BA in Legal Studies and Religious Studies from UKZN in 1992 and then obtained a postgraduate LLB in 1994 also from UKZN

She practiced law as an attorney for a decade as a general practitioner and also as a conveyancer

She taught law at University Level for 15 years

She had developed an interest in Alternative Dispute Resolution right at the beginning of practice

After the birth of her second child she stopped practising and took a year long break. After that she started to formally develop her passion for ADR and Restorative, non-adversarial systems and methods. She founded ADR Network SA which is a private Dispute Resolution Agency, training and development agency for mediators and arbitrators and also operates as a voluntary regulatory and compliance body in ADR

She is consulted widely both nationally and internationally for her expertise in restorative-justice informed dispute resolution processes across most areas of legal disputes. Past students of hers include local lawyers, judges, educators and international lawyers, judges and educators.

She also runs an NPO, The Access to Justice Association of SA which mobilizes dispute resolution resources for vulnerable persons and poor communities across Southern Africa.

She speaks and writes extensively about the promotion and development of non-adversarial and restorative methods in law reform projects and in organizational systems and structures.

Publications include:

Contribution to Lawyers as Changemakers, J Kim Wright (American Bar Association)

Various articles in Media for Justice

Various Articles in Thought Leader

Contributing Paper to Lawyers as Peacemakers Conference, IDRA, Unisa College of Law (2016)

Contributing Paper UNISA Labour Law Conference 2017

Accolades:

Shortlister: Hague Centre for Innovation in Law, 2016 (Access to Justice for Children)

Nominee: Pro Bono Awards, 2016

Other positions/Memberships/participations:

SAMLA Medico-Legal Mediator

Co-Chair-International Society for Therapeutic Jurisprudence (SA Chapter)

Member-International Integrative Law Movement

Email: sheena@adr-networksa.co.za



Why are you shooting me? Protest, police violence and our violence.


‘Why are you shooting me? Ntumba asked. And then the cop shot him again and again and jumped on him. The shooting of an innocent bystander, Mthokozisi Ntumba during the Wits protests last week was described by Thando Sibanda.

Mapping police violence

Vicky Osterweil writes that in 21st Century America it’s hard to think of any less popular political action than (protest) or its ‘violent’ expression in rioting and looting. We could say the same in South Africa for protest action which is in many senses mischaracterised as violent and unsubstantiated and often partaken in by those with nothing better to do and who ‘want everything for nothing’ according to the trope of the previously advantaged and already privileged. The #savesouthafrica brigade and comparable movements aside, of course, in that when they protest, it is largely celebrated and not crushed by police force.

She goes on to say that forms of acceptable political action include voting and electioneering (as the baseline of political action), petitioning and lobbying of elected representatives is not far behind, labour action despite decades of (federal action) still has strong support in many quarters (though whilst the former may mirror South Africa, the latter is receiving waning support and even legislative attempts to curtail labour action), community organizing, once the bedrock of civil society action, do still support demonstrations when perceived as non-violent and when their people are doing it.

Ironically, she goes on, more extreme forms of political action have widespread support: both liberals and conservatives internationally believe in war considering it a necessary evil or fundamental good. Liberals oppose the death penalty but like conservatives believe in the efficacy of murder when it comes to war. Torture is celebrated 1000 times a day in police procedural and action movies and most people regard imprisonment-years of unrelenting psychic torture-as a necessary fact of social life. Economic coercian on the international stage through sanctions, trade agreements and development loans is a matter of course. At home, the threat of unemployment, homelessness, starvation and destitution along with debt, taxes, fines and fees of all kinds are so naturalised as to rarely even be recognised as a form of political domination at all.

Protest by the working class, poor and excluded students finds little support in dominant South African Society. The ‘redemptive’ violence of police is often justified, celebrated and even encouraged in certain quarters, specifically by those with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

When I watched the footage of the police advancing on the protesting Wits students last week, I was shocked by the blatant aggression and lack of temperance. And they knew they were being filmed.

In order to properly understand and map the violence of modern-day policing, it is important to understand the roots of property. South Africa, like many other formerly colonised lands is built on centuries of violent economic exploitation and exclusion.

In her chapter on the racial roots of property in America, Osterweil says that the USA is built on African slavery and indigenous genocide. She says that this simple fact is the premise from which any honest study of American history must begin. Property, state, government and economy in America rise from these pillars of racialised dispossession and violence, slavery and genocide and any change made that does not upend this history, that does not tear these pillars to the ground through a process of decolonization and reparations does not deserve the name justice. We could easily transpose this paragraph virtually as is using ‘South Africa’ in place of America.

A vision for a different life

Although American history, she says, (and I suggest our own) is largely the continuation of this violence, it is also full of moments and movements that envisage a life lived otherwise. The #feesmustfall, #outsourcingmustfall and ancillary and other manifestations of these movements like #austeritymustfall embody these moments and movements. These are moments and movements are embodiments of resistance, liberation and transformation envisioning a world beyond not only the crushing violence of the state in its most obvious embodiment-police force and prisons-but also beyond the more insidious forms of violence such as the economic coercian expressed in debt, taxes, fines and fees of all kinds and manifested in actual and threatened unemployment, homelessness, starvation and destitution.

It is necessary to understand the roots of modern-day policing and its unholy alliance with white supremacy the world over. The concept of property itself evolved out of euro-american chattel slavery and settler colonialism. Just as indigenous slaves built the great wealth of the modern Western world, so too, in Southern Africa, was (and still largely is) the great wealth and infrastructure of these parts mined and built on the back of African slavery and then centuries of violent systematic exclusion and exploitation that Terblanche articulates and which eventually found its expression in a codified or legislated system which came to be known as apartheid for around 80 years prior to political freedom in 1994. I qualify freedom as political freedom as freedom is yet to find its full expression in a just society here. This will require the commitment of all South Africans in mind, body and soul to arrive at the realisation that this deeply unequal society of ours is neither sustainable for us nor is it good for us in any sense if we are committed to becoming whole healed individuals that make up a whole healed society.

I will no-doubt be criticised in the sense that those who look like me will say but the death of Ntumbi was black on black violence. He was killed by the black state.

However, in the same way that Rhamaposa did the bidding for and/or provided a buffer to the anglo-americans of this world in the Marikana killings, our state and its various machinations still prop up the status quo of a small minority that have more than they need at the expense of the vast majority who, in many respects, hardly have what they need. While legal apartheid was dismantled around 1994, de facto apartheid has found its expression in far more insidious ways including the burgeoning lagers of elite security estates and the associated fortification of the private security industry with its various manifestations of limitation of freedom of movement and profiling of certain classes of individuals within those estates and even in suburbs where often access and freedom of movement is (unconstitutionally) restricted on public roads. It also finds expression in couching corruption as the African way or the way of the African state when, in truth, corruption is the international language of business often finding expression in old tropes like ‘its not what you know, its who you know’. Any system that pits humans against each other in competition, like capitalism does, will always battle the problem of corruption. In this system I get ahead and thrive by crushing you or by ensuring that you I win and you lose. It touches how we do everything from schooling to conflict resolution.

We don’t want to heal

In her work, Osterweil traces the origins of modern day policing to white vigilanti-ism on slave plantations through to a violent response to worker movement uprisings in the early 1900s and unpacks its inter-connectedness with the protection of private property over and above care for human life. The fault line is that private property is always to be protected from the disinherited, the excluded, the desperate and those living with their backs against the wall. In short: those who do not have what they need and, moreover, do not have access to what they need.

In our own country, we have a shameful past of police brutality as the hard artillery used to maintain the aforementioned system of violent exclusion and exploitation-a past almost too painful and too complex to honestly and articulately elucidate. But sadly, not a distant past. This is our very recent past. And it has reached into and exists in our present. If we are honest, it exists to protect the status quo that existed prior to 1994 and has reached into and has its tentacles embedded firmly into the present.

On balance, protest is one of the least violent methods of political actions if one really gets to grips with economic exclusion and exploitation, and all that it involves, which is still a firm reality of South African Society. Am I wrong? Look around you and then answer that question. But be honest and let’s reflect on how each of us (particularly the descendants of former colonisers) partake in propping up the status quo.

Many around me distribute conspiracy theories in the name of not letting the media tell us what to think about Covid and the pandemic and all manner of how the ‘global elites’ are coming for us and our freedoms. The truth may be hidden in plain sight: capitalist society is a giant triangle pyramid scheme and we are watching its trajectory move towards the top tip of the triangle where a terrifyingly small few have way more than what they need and the majority does not have what they need. Yet the conspiracy theorists explain this in terms of baby-blood drinking paedophiles who are being waged war against in secret by the Christian right who incidentally insist on protecting and conserving the very system that will undoubtedly, and, if uninterrupted, end humanity.

Those same individuals who distribute anti-main stream media conspiracy theories often accept, in whole, what the media says about protest and protestors.

So Ntumba’s last words, ‘Why are you shooting me?’ should ring in our ears as a warning and a call to solidarity with the excluded, dispossessed and marginalised. The media languaged his death as the death of a ‘civilian’ thus inadvertently couching the students as violent combatants as the #endausterity movement has articulated. Many of us continue to fall for this trope, welcoming and celebrating the force of the police that crushes protest and enforces law and order quite oblivious to the real possibility in that continuing our firmly gripped belief that ‘they’ are ‘entitled’, ‘destructive’ and ‘want everything’ for nothing when actually the inclusion of every single citizen, the insistence that our society become just (that is, each person has what they need) is confoundingly and intricately connected to all our well-being.

Wanting to heal looks different. Moments and movements like #feesmustfall, #outsourcingmust fall and #auteritymustfall connecting to broader movements like #blacklivesmatter and #defundthepolice are showing us the way. We need institutions of healers. Imagine if teachers saw themselves as healers, doctors saw themselves as healers, lawyers saw themselves as healers. Imagine if police saw themselves as healers.

Imagine if politicians saw themselves as healers.

Imagine if each of us saw ourselves as healers.

Imagine if we really wanted to heal.

Sheena Jonker

Email sheena@adr-networksa.co.za




[ii] Vicky Osterweil, In Defence of Looting.

[iii] Sampie Terrblanche, A history of inequality in South Africa

[iv] Osterweil, supra at Ch 4

[v] Terblanche, supra and Western Empires: Christianity and the inequalities between the best and the rest.


Dudu Myeni: State Capture, the Right to Remain Silent and the Privilege against Self Incrimination


We need a justice that restores.

This week, the testimony of Dudu Myeni at the state capture commission has brought some important issues to the fore.

Some months ago I wrote about the possible role of restorative justice in the problem of state capture and corruption. This, in essence, because the complexity of running prosecutions and gaining convictions in commercial crimes cannot be adequately fathomed by society in general and so the very public state capture enquiry adds fuel and energy to society’s already desperate demand for justice which is often and to a large extent the misinterpreted desire for retribution and revenge. It is a blood lust type of energy and it is not good for us as a society which desperately needs to heal and achieve justice. Real justice is that every person has what they need. For the public to get what they need we need to have discussions around getting rid of the tender board that opens the way for unsavoury alliances between the public and private sector and expand public works. But that’s a discussion for a future blog.

Read my first blog on state capture and corruption here.

Thuli Madonsela has recently given credence to the potential for restorative justice for clerks and individuals possible lower down in the matrix that is state capture. I would argue that it is imperative for all of us that the entire process and every part of it is the work of restorative justice.

The state capture enquiry is complex and this week gave us some insight into (but not the full extent of) just how complex it may be.

Dudu Myeni has asserted her right to claim the privilege against self-incrimination. At the outset she expressed that she supports the enquiry and wishes to co-operate but feared that her right to remain silent may be compromised if she were to be charged criminally and would thus be asserting her privilege against self-incrimination.

Ms Hofmeyr for the commission clearly articulated the distinction between the right to remain silent and the privilege against self-incrimination. Ms Myeni’s legal team made some powerfully compelling submissions that Constitutionalist ought to reflect on with a great deal of care.

The aforegoing right to remain silent accrues to the accused in criminal proceedings and the latter (privilege against self-incrimination) can only be invoked in response to particular questions with the witness claiming privilege and putting forth reasons that justify that privilege. This means that Ms Myeni could not claim privilege on an entire theme of questioning such as SAA but needs to claim

her privilege in each instance where she may be exposed to incrimination. The economics of this painful process of questioning and claiming privilege on each question is mind boggling.

The result is that the media and public are watching Ms Myeni do what she is lawfully entitled to do and are widely and wildly interpreting her asserting her privilege as affirmation that she must be guilty.

This may present a constitutional anomaly, comparable, I think, to the reverse onus. She cannot invoke a right to remain silent because this is not a criminal forum and as such she cannot defend herself in the way that she would be able to in a criminal court and enjoy the onus and high burden of proof being squarely on her accusers. Instead, she must appear at the commission, on television, asserting her privilege against self-incrimination in every instance, which is perfectly good in law, and be exposed to vast sectors of society and the media pre-judging her as guilty and moreover ridiculing her in ways that may violate her dignity and harm her reputation for life whether she is ultimately found guilty or not and whether in fact she is guilty or not.

This may well open the way for her legal team to argue in a criminal court, if she is charged, that her matter is incapable of a fair trial.

All the while, South Africans are watching, getting the usual angry rise and becoming more brazen in often racially charged ridicule, comment and conjecture whilst billions drain away to a process that simply does not have the capacity to give us what we need. Healing and a just society.

That is a society where everyone has what they need.

By Sheena St Clair Jonker

ADR NETWORK SA

sheena@adr-networksa.co.za


How dare we condemn some of the cruelty and not all of it?




















The horse-racing protests at Fairview and how we think about protest.

I recently wrote about the Clicks protests and how the EFF was disturbing the ‘peace’ and revealing and confronting the folly of the idea of and insistence on ‘law and order’ in a deeply unjust society.

I also wrote about the potential for restorative justice to have a hand in bringing about racial justice. This would require bringing together the warrior energies of activists and protesters and the healer energies of restorative justice advocates.

As a matter of perspective, following my Clicks article referred to above, I was confronted (most disrespectfully) by a handful of white men. Two in particular accused me of ‘aligning’ with what they called the ‘most racist organisation in the world’. Fania Davis writes that the common view that a black individual anti-white sentiment can be just as racist as a white individual expressing anti-black animus is mistaken. Because it is backed up by nearly four hundred years of structural and institutional power, anti-black racism is more potent and virulent by several orders of magnitude: there is no comparison.

One of these men adjudicated a bold (and vacuous) statement that there was nothing racist about the Clicks advertisement pointing to the ‘all black marketing team’. Whilst it is verifiable that the marketing director was black, I can find no data on who ideated the advert and/or how and by whom it was approved it for publishing. He also lamented that Clicks employs around 80% black individuals, 65% of whom are females. He stated. If this is the case, it should give us an idea of just how insidious, hardened and emboldened systemic and institutional racism in South Africa really is. A system that still provides cover for ‘white hair is normal’ and ‘black hair is dry and damaged’ should insult us all. And this is a company that employs so many black females. In the same way that most of us partake in and prop up patriarchy, even though it hurts and injures women, most of us partake in and prop up anti-black racism even though it hurts and injures black people. That is because it is systemic and institutional apart from being individual. Racism is hard-wired into almost every part of South African Society and it is a system that has been four centuries in the making. Do we want to heal? Because if we do we ought to do better. And if we do, we need to actively dismantle every part of our systems and institutions that inadvertently partake in and advance racism. The same goes for patriarchy and all other forms of oppression which, by the way, are all inter-connected.

This week’s treat for racists, though, was the racehorse protests at Fairview. The media provided a rise reporting initially that a horse had been hacked to death and others had been maimed in protests. This, the media reported, amidst protests this week originated in a pay dispute after a groom had stabbed a horse earlier this year. As further information became available it started to emerge that there were reports of a groom who had accidentally cut a horse whilst cutting its hair when it reared up. Reports are that the employer wanted to dismiss the groom and deduct the vets’ fees from his pay (an estimated between R 13 000 and R 15 000 depending on which report one reads).

The other grooms has requested that he not be dismissed and had committed to pay the bill from their collective wages. Their employer refused this offer and the grooms stayed away and were then dismissed in a way that left them unable to access their UIF for several months.

This lead to protests in which it has now been reported that race-horses were let out of their stables and some of the horses were injured (one lost its life) in the mayhem of horses and protesters running in all directions. The way in which this story was reported is an example of reporting the presenting injury or the symptom whilst not properly ventilating the previous or originating injury or injuries or the cause which in this cause may have been a violation or violations of labour law by the employer.

Just as in the Clicks protests, any particularly disruptive or destructive aspects of protests were well ventilated. With a reported 37 out of 400 stores suffering some sort of damage although there is little to no data on context or extent ie did protests become violent due to outside agitation and what was the extent of any damage? In some quarters the protests were characterised as largely violent and destructive rather than largely peaceful (over 90% had been peaceful if one does the maths on available figures) and having achieved a restorative outcome – acknowledgment of harm, apology, withdrawal of the product, expansion of local products and various reparative measures and of course, an end to the protests.

During the horse-racing protests, protestors were characterised as brutal and cruel which lead to the usual rise from readers and social media commentators condemning the protests and the protestors and writing them off as cruel, vicious and barbaric. Not surprisingly, many harbouring individual racist sentiment, vented their racist ideas out loud and with abandon. Readers were given little room for or encouragement to reflect on:

  1. What lead to the protests? If it was labour action that was unfair and/or unlawful and had left around 120 grooms in a desperate situation for months (remembering that each groom could easily be responsible for between 4 and 8 family members meaning that this action may have left a large portion of a community in a desperate position, then who is the actual guilty party or who are the guilty parties. What is worse, violence or incitement to violence? Where does incitement to violence start? With regard to the Clicks advert do we call incitement to violence on the EFF or do we call incitement to violence on Clicks? In the Fairview case, could it be possible that keeping a large number of people in a desperate and humiliated position was inevitably going to lead to protest and that protest carried the potential for injury and further harm? In a system bent on ultimate responsibility for wrongdoers, I think, all too often we hone in on the presenting injury and hardly ever or insufficiently on the originating harm or injury.
  2. Horse-racing where horses are kept as assets for the entertainment of the wealthy and in perpetually fearful (skittish) states to the extent (at the least) that they have to be blinkered and whipped to perform in circumstances that they are meant to perform, many fall in the process and are put to death then and there. Race-horse owners are insured for this as these beings are income-earning assets for them. Indications are that they were victims of exploitation before these protests (if we consider their position as assets for human entertainment as well as horse-racing as a part of a gambling industry which inordinately affects those vulnerable to addiction and can and does destroy lives), and so were their grooms who, as this case may point to, are vulnerable to possibly unfair and/or unlawful labour practices that leave them desperate enough to protest in this way.
  3. Even if the reports of horses being hacked and assaulted were true, and indications that they were not, what legitimate voice would the vast majority of us have to condemn the cruelty when our bacon or our steak, who was once a sensitive, intuitive being that felt pain in the same way as those horses do, and as we do, was stabbed in the throat, electrocuted, burnt with fire while still conscious to remove its fur. This is after being raped for milk, being kept alive in squalor and confinement, on antibiotics and enduring a terrifying trip on the back of a truck to a slaughterhouse. And the vast majority of us do this to innocent animals completely and completely unprovoked all the time.


How dare we judge those living in desperation with their backs against the wall. How dare we condemn some cruelty and not all of it.


By Sheena St Clair Jonker

ADR NETWORK SA

sheena@adr-networksa.co.za


Balancing the warrior and the healer


Earlier this week I wrote about the EFF call to action and insuring protests in the wake of the racist hair advert published by Clicks and its partners. In order to get to true peace where justice is present, it may be necessary to disturb the peace or the folly of “law and order” in an unjust society.

During its first 40 years, as a challenge to the adversarial system, restorative justice has largely failed to address race and racial justice, according to Fania E Davis. (We must not forget that restorative justice has existed for centuries as the way of addressing harm in indigenous society and many faith traditions.)

This failure is surprising, she says, on the basis that people of colour overwhelmingly bear the brunt of the horrific inequities of the (western) criminal justice system, past and present. In the same way that restorative justice proponents have failed to develop a racial justice and a social justice, activists in racial and social justice have not widely been adherents to or proponents of restorative justice.

Davies calls for a convergence of the two urging racial justice advocates to invite more healing energies into their lives and restorative justice advocates to invite more warrior energies into theirs.

She clarifies her use of the warrior and healer archetypes as follows: the “warrior“ is not used in its oppositional and militaristic sense but in its spiritual valance connoting the integration of power and compassion. In an example, she thinks of the youth activists at standing Rock who led the historic resistance to the Dakota access pipeline installation in 2016 and who engaged in ceremony as a form of social action proclaiming themselves water and earth protectors, and not simply protestors. She thinks too of the fierce African Massai warriors who first and foremost protect children.

In the same way ’healer’ is not used to connote when one works to heal the human body but more broadly to mean when we aspire to heal the social body, or transform social harm.

Because South Africa was born in violent economic dispossession exclusion and exploitation over centuries and because we have neither fully acknowledged or reckoned with these traumas much less worked to heal them they perpetually manifest themselves.

Those of us who have committed our lives and our work towards a just society will have a chance to succeed only in devotion to both individual and collective healing.

Restorative justice in its various indigenous and sacred expressions is at its core, the work of deeply entering into and maintaining ‘Right relationship’. South Africa is not a scene of rightly related citizens. Rather it is a scene of a small majority having way more of what they need and the large majority living with your backs against the wall. And this is squarely a continuation of centuries old dispossession, exclusion and exploitation.

So, as I said, earlier this week I wrote about the EFF protest action in the wake of the Clicks advert. What South Africans primarily saw was warrior energy in almost full expression. We have a tendency to want to suppress warrior energy especially when it is collective and we look to the ‘Law and order’ state to do this. However, as I wrote, the EFF is exposing the folly of “law and order“ in a deeply unjust society.

What we witnessed yesterday, was the access of something of a healing energy when, out of talks with both Clicks and Unilever, the EFF resolved to call off its protest on the basis of Restorative outcomes comprising acknowledgement of harm, apology and certain reparative measures.

This has been a wonderful demonstration of how the warrior and the healer can come together to restore a society to justice. The warrior confronts, disrupts and disturbs the ‘peace’ which often acts as cover for all kinds of else, most notably racism. And the healer engages and looks for and develops solutions.

I am aware of incidents where the protest was reported to have turned destructive and violent. I am aware of certain individuals and organisations accusing the EFF of inciting violence.

‘The Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti writes that if you want to dispossess a people, the simplest way to do it is to tell their story and to start with, “secondly.” Start the story with the arrows of the Native Americans, and not with the arrival of the British, and you have an entirely different story. Start the story with the failure of the African state, and not with the colonial creation of the African state, and you have an entirely different story.’ (Adichi)

We must take care not to start with the secondly here. We must start with the underlying act of racism perpetrated by Clicks and it’s partners.

In the words of Vicky Osterweil, none of us will know true freedom until we properly dismantle the existing institutions and prevailing effects of settler colonialism and white supremacy in this world.

To get here, we need the work of both warriors and healers to succeed in a justice that restores.

By Sheena St Clair Jonker

ADR NETWORK SA

sheena@adr-networksa.co.za


Sources and recommended reading:

‘The little book of race and restorative justice’, FE Davis

‘The danger of the single story’, Adichi (Ted.com)

‘Disturbing the ‘peace’. The EFF is leading the way.’ Sheena Jonker (http://www.adr-networksa.co.za/blog/)


Disturbing the ‘peace’. The EFF is leading the way.





















We are in a global space of struggle that threatens the core of capitalism and its various racialised manifestations not least of which is the boot on the neck of the black majority in South Africa where labour potential is sold to the quintessential lowest bidder in a completely normalised way and human beings are placated to their lot on the basis, literally, that they won’t starve.

This, whilst enormous wealth, built on the back of our natural resources and the backs of our people, drains away to multinationals as we continue to pander to the gods of foreign investment and our people remain in desperate situations.

The politics of the EFF is a direct and loud challenge to capitalist and collaterally racist status quo. Disruption is key to shifting entrenched patterns of injustice. Those who have the courage to disturb the peace are often the real peacemakers of this world.

We often confuse peacekeeping and peacemaking and this can be lethal.

Peacekeeping may result in a veneer of peace. But this is often a false peace brought about by the crushing and often violent methods of police military and/or criminal justice.

The EFF furnished a list of demands after Clicks published an online advert that portrayed black hair as dry and damaged and white hair as normal.

Following this it demanded that Clicks close for five days. Actually, this was a measured approach-a demand for access to information and then a notice to close failing which the EFF would ensure store closure.

The Clicks executive failed to see this as an opportunity to make good and redeem themselves. It would not have amounted to the demise of Clicks. It would’ve caused discomfort and it would’ve hurt their profits, as it should have, and they would’ve had to explain to their shareholders but they could’ve got through it and paid the price of their actions. An appropriate price. A measured price in the circumstances.They could have provided access to information in an appropriate format and could have closed for five days committing to pay their workers whilst losing five days of income. Just five days.

Unfortunately they opted for an arrogant approach and the path of most resistance leaving its (largely poor and black) employees on the front lines of a (very necessary) struggle for racial justice.

We should all be offended. By Clicks. By business that continues to think that they can infringe African dignity in Africa. We should all be saying in unison racists will not do business in Africa. We should all insist on disturbing the ‘peace’ that keeps a deeply unequal society in place.

Law and order should never be a proxy for justice. When will we learn that if we want peace we need to be serious about justice?

And the extent to which African hair is still inordinately policed in Africa-in our schools, and in workplaces, and in our minds is indicative that the pandemic of oppression, racism being an ongoing manifestation, is alive and well and it will end us all.

Movements like Black Lives Matter and aligned formations are opening a healing portal for us all but we need to drop being satisfied with peacekeeping and its associated violent imposition of calm and we really need to get serious about peacemaking. That is how we usher in justice.

As far as I could tell, the EFF was not calling for damage or destruction. There was no call to destroy Clicks. Essentially it called for reparative and restorative measures aimed at interrupting action that is a continuation of an underlying theme of a deeply unjust society. For the most part, this was peaceful, though disruptive protest. And protest must bring about disruption. Where there was any form of destruction, we should surely attribute that to the inevitability of the arrogant and obstinate course chosen by Clicks in the circumstances.

In this way and in many other ways the EFF is leading the way in disturbing the “peace “. And in displacing the false peace that helps to maintain the status quo.

It is exposing the folly of “law and order“ in a society that is deeply unjust.


By Sheena St Clair Jonker

ADR NETWORK SA

sheena@adr-networksa.co.za


A case for mediation in divorce


I THOUGHT WE SHOULD TALK

A case for mediation in divorce

By Sheena Jonker

‘I charge 950 dollars an hour. Ted over there will be assisting in your divorce. He charges 400 dollars an hour. You got stupid questions, you call Ted’

From Marriage Story

I had been sick with flu since around Wednesday last week and at the weekend, it was fluffy dogs, heaters, Netflix and waiting for ’rona results.

I got around to watching Marriage Story. Nominated for 6 golden globes, I found it to be deeply moving and an excellent glance into how destructive lawyers can be in divorce, how the system still rewards bad behaviour and how gendered the law is in many ways and in particular, in divorce.

Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) and Charlie (Adam Driver) have decided to get a divorce. They initially meet with a mediator but then Nicole is convinced she needs to go to a lawyer as she wants to move back to LA with their son whilst Charlie wants them to remain a New York Family.

Nicole consults LA attorney Nora who starts helping her with her strategy and it is obvious that Nicole is deeply uncomfortable with the artificial spin Nora proposes putting on isolated aspects of their shared lives in order to gain advantage in court.

At one point, Nora lambastes her about being honest about how difficult parenting is and gives us a glimpse into what is expected of mothers and what is accepted from fathers:

‘People don’t accept mothers who drink too much wine and yell at their child and call him an ass-hole. I get it. I do too. We can accept an imperfect Dad. Let’s face it, the idea of a good father was only invented like 30 years ago. Before that, fathers were expected to be silent and absent and unreliable and selfish, and all we can say is we want them to be different. But on some basic level we accept them. We love them for their fallibilities, but people absolutely don’t accept those failings in mothers. We don’t accept it structurally and we don’t accept it spiritually.’

On hearing that Nicole has a lawyer, Charlie is shocked and keeps saying ‘I thought we were going to talk this through and work things out ourselves’ and eventually capitulates on the basis that he thought he should ‘get my own ass-hole’.

He consults a New York firm and he, too, is obviously deeply uncomfortable with the ‘strategy’ that has a bent on highlighting all the negative aspects of his wife. He is also shocked at what it will cost. He’s just won a substantial grant for his theatre and, though his wife is not claiming half of it as she could, he realises that it will, in any event drain away to pay his lawyers.

At one point his lawyers tells him his hourly rate:

‘I charge 950 dollars an hour. Ted over there will be assisting in your divorce. He charges 400 dollars an hour. You got stupid questions, you call Ted’

It’s an arresting moment.

Charlie eventually seeks out an older attorney who charges less and has a possibly more measured approach.

He also tells Charlie some hard truths:

‘I charge 950 dollars an hour. Ted over there will be assisting in your divorce. He charges 400 dollars an hour. You got stupid questions, you call Ted’

He also tells a few silly jokes and at one point Charlie asks:

‘Am I paying for this joke, Bert’

It brings it all home: the way we deal with this particular human tragedy (divorce) is confoundingly irrational, destructive on every level and completely unnecessary.

One of the saddest parts is when each parent has to submitted to a court-referred expert coming into their home to observe their parenting. It’s an excruciating glimpse into the artificiality of a stranger coming into the homes of two traumatized individuals in their most naked and vulnerable moments and who will have a significant role to play in who wins and who loses and what happens to their kid.

After watching the deeply painful mis-steps of each and the heart-wrenching irrationality of how we do divorce, the viewer is brought down to earth with the simple words ‘I thought we should talk’

We should talk and we should mediate these deeply painful discussions in ways that respect each of the parties, the children and create the most sacred and reverend of spaces to help divorcing parties navigate the disorientation and chaos in order to get to a re-orientation or a new order of things in a way that everyone has what the need.

If even one person loses, does anyone actually win.

I think we are far too inter-connected, in ways that we can see and in ways that we cannot see or fathom for it to be the true case that where only one of us wins that any of us actually win.

By Sheena St Clair Jonker

ADR NETWORK SA

sheena@adr-networksa.co.za



Restorative Justice, State Capture and Corruption


Are we having the right conversation? Are we thinking about this in the right way? Remedial work requires right thinking, right seeing, right speaking and right action.

In mediating conflict I often find myself saying to parties ‘are you seeing this in the right way?’, ‘are you thinking this through well?’.

Right seeing and right thinking are crucial precursors to the work of making things right again. Making things right again is the real work of justice. That’s how we get to just circumstances. And this is all best borne out of a discourse, a conversation where, as far as is possible, everyone is at the table and everyone has the resource and power to be at the table.

So where do we start? At the beginning. Naturally. That is the essence of ‘start’. And whilst the conversation is ‘look at the evil over there!’, ‘look at the corruption over there!’, we’ve skipped a whole lot of steps. The first step is with me. Always. How am I evil, how am I corrupt? In what ways do I apprehend my needs at the expense of others? How much permission do I give myself to be cruel?

Anyone been to a South African braai lately? Er, I mean in the last five months. Anyone heard about the cash we keep in our glove compartments to get through roadblocks? We do know that the rule against drunken driving is so we don’t injure, maime or kill people. Right?

How much latitude do we give ourselves in this stuff?

How many conversations do we have in which we know someone who knows a guy? How much latitude do we allow ourselves in queue jumping, process circumvention?

Every small act of corruption we partake in adds the exact energy required for the corruption that results in state capture. And by the way, I personally regard the bribing of police officers to overlook drunken driving one of the most harmful, if not the most harmful of all. And it’s commonplace. Let’s partake in courageous truth-telling.

Does this mean we don’t hold our leaders to account? Of course not, but if we don’t connect the corrupt and evil recesses of our own hearts to our societal ills, we will never heal.

We love seeing the next official’s face in the media. Fuelled by ancient bloodlust and revenge which we mistake for justice, we love becoming enraged. We love demanding convictions and jail time not having the faintest idea how criminal justice works and how technically difficult the evidence is in these matters. We will never get what we want there and we will certainly not find what we need. Healing. For us all.

We need to do better and our heightened accuser consciousness (the evil is over there, it’s him, it’s her, it’s them) is not serving us. It is keeping us in our weakest possible state. As we connect each of ourselves to this, we need to see the private sector corruption and the other forms of corruption that know no demographic and that continue to disable us yet proceed hidden in plain sight.

Let’s think about this better. Let’s see the whole and confront our own parts in the whole. That’s the restorative way. Real truth, real accountability and real remedy.

By Sheena St Clair Jonker

ADR NETWORK SA

sheena@adr-networksa.co.za


White Oriental Lilies Illustrations

Accreditation

ADR Network SA exists as a voluntary compliance and regulatory body for mediators, arbitrators and restorative justice practitioners. Practitioners may become accredited with ADR Network SA by applying to our panel at panel@adr-networksa.co.za.


Complaints about any of our members may be emailed to complaints@adr-networksa.co.za.


To verify any individual’s accreditation and/or certification with ADR Network SA please email panel@adr-networksa.co.za.

Allison Borchardt

Alison holds a degree in Nursing Science and graduated Cum Laude in Community Healthcare, Midewifery and Psychiatric Nursing throughout her degree. She has also commenced an LLB degree.


She is an ADR Network SA-trained mediator based in Cape Town.


Her interests include reading, music (she plays the piano, violin and cello), spending time with friends and family, research and travel.


For more information or questions about our accredited panel members, please contact us on 031 001 9022 | panel@adr-networksa.co.za

Charlene Tessa PIETERSE

Charlene Pieterse is currently a Postgraduate Administrative Assistant in the Faculty of Law at the Nelson Mandela University. She is also a part-time final year LLB student. She started her career as a legal secretary in 1997 at a private law firm in Uitenhage (Kariega) in the Eastern Cape. In 1999 she moved to another private law firm in Despatch in the Eastern Cape until 2007. In May 2007 she accepted an opportunity at the Nelson Mandela University Law Clinic, where she worked as a legal secretary until 2018. She was then transferred to the Faculty of Law to assist Master’s and Doctoral students with administrative support. Charlene also obtained her accreditation as Debt Review Counsellor through The Association of University Legal Aid Institutions (AULAI) in 2008.

adv. Pumla tinta

I am a member of the Duma Nokwe Group of Advocates and was admitted as an Advocate

of the High Court of South Africa in November 2018. I completed my pupillage training with

the Johannesburg Society of Advocates in December 2020 and was subsequently called to the Bar in January 2021.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

I possess a National Diploma in Safety Management as well as a Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA). Prior to joining the Bar, I worked at the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) for over 15 years as a Radiation Protection Officer (RPO), SHEQ Co-ordinator and a Lead Auditor in Radiological Audits, respectively.


I completed my Practical Legal Training with the Law Society of South Africa in 2019. I have attended a short course in Company Law I and completed the Risk, Governance and Compliance course from the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS). I am currently registered for Company Law II with WITS.

AREAS OF PRACTICE I have a general civil litigation practice with particular interest in the areas of Constitutional law, Energy law, Administrative law, Construction law, Mining law, Corporate law and Labour law. I also have a keen interest in Mediation and Arbitration.

cindy allan

Cindy holds an LLB and practices as a notary, conveyancer and litigation consultant.

I am a CEDR qualified mediator as well as CD/ACDS accredited. I have been involved in land matters since 2011, and have acted on the legal services panel of Rural and Land Reform as well as for SANRAL.


Cheryl Moreby

I have a Diploma in Law obtained from RAU in 2003. I have worked in various Legal Firms since 1992 and have gained many years of experience in the legal field not only as a secretary in the early days, but also as a Paralegal, often running a legal office on my own. My interests lie in civil litigation, family and criminal law and HR. I also have a Certificate in Labour Law obtained in 2004 and I have dealt with internal labour issues at work since 2001. I am currently a Dispute Resolutions Manager carrying out mediation between clients and creditors in order to amicably settle outstanding debt, disputes regarding contracts, etc. with the ultimate goal of re-introducing the client into the financial mainstream. I am looking forward to expanding my career into the mediation field.”

Cheryl is a trained mediator and arbitrator and is a member of ADR NETWORK SA’s panel.


Marc Welgemoed

Marc Welgemoed is a lecturer in the Criminal and Procedural Law Department at the Nelson Mandela University Faculty of Law. He is also a clinician at the Nelson Mandela University Law Clinic.

He has been admitted as an attorney in 2000 and has acted as Director of the NMU Law Clinic during 2016.

He obtained the B Iuris degree in 1996, the LLB degree in 1998, the LLM degree in 2014 and the LLD degree in 2021.

Marc joined the NMU Law Clinic on 2 June 2003 and has approximately 19 years experience in clinical legal education (CLE). He lectures the modules Civil Procedure, Law of Evidence, Legal Practice and Unjustified Enrichment and facilitates the practical training of law students at the NMU Law Clinic.

He furthermore has experience in supervising undergraduate and postgraduate students in treatise writing. Marc also acted as principal for a number of candidate attorneys at the NMU Law Clinic from 2007-2018 and served as a member of the executive committee of the South African University Law Clinics Association (SAULCA) from 2009 until 2019. Marc has published in various journals between 2016 and 2022, namely Litnet Akademies, Obiter and Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal. He has also

contributed to the LexisNexis publication “Clinical Law in South Africa”, as well as in the Juta publication “Law Clinics and the Clinical Law movement in South Africa.”

NICOLENE SCHOEMAN-LOUW

LLB cum laude LLM (UFS) PG Dip FP(US)

Legal Project Practitioner | Attorney| Conveyancer | Notary Public | Mediator

  • Commercial law
  • Business continuity planning and corporate governance
  • Technology law
  • Contract Drafting
  • B-BBEE Advice and Planning
  • Construction law
  • Insurance law
  • Property law and conveyancing
  • Notarial work
  • Drafting Wills, Trusts and Estate planning
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Civil litigation


Mrs Nicolene Schoeman – Louw founded the firm in 2007, aged 24, and is now the Managing Director of SchoemanLaw Inc.


She is an admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa, Conveyancer, Notary Public and Mediator; with a passion for entrepreneurs and helping them reach their most ambitious goals. She obtained her LLB degree cum laude and successfully completed her LLM degree (dissertation) in commercial law and B-BBEE, both at the University of the Free State. In addition, she obtained her postgraduate diploma in financial planning (CFP) at the University of Stellenbosch. An abstract of her LLM dissertation was published in the Journal for Estate Planning in 2006. Now, she regularly writes for academic publications such as De Rebus (the SA attorneys’ journal) as well as Without Prejudice and Polity.org (legalbriefs). She also regularly contributes to various online publications such as Spice4Life and other mainstream publications such as The Entrepreneur Magazine, Business Briefs and Personal Finance Magazine (to name a few). For over 7 years she presented The Law Report with Karen Key on SAFM, until the show was cancelled. She currently shares her knowledge regularly on radio 786, RSG, SAFM, Paarl FM and other radio stations. Mrs Schoeman – Louw lectured at the University of the Free State during her studies, presently guest lectures at Stellenbosch Business School and currently presents seminars and workshops on a wide range of legal topics for various organizations such as Bandwidth Barn, UnitedSucces, Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Business, Retail and Marketing Indabas – to name a few. Mrs Schoeman – Louw has won a number of prestigious awards for her academic achievements. Among others, they include the:

  • Hofmeyr Herbstein Gihwala Inc. Prize
  • Gildenhuys van der Merwe Prize
  • Juta Prize
  • The Bobbert Medal (for obtaining her LLB degree cum laude)
  • Other Awards and achievements:
  • 2012: Finalist in the Professional Category of the Regional Business Achievers’ Awards (RBAA) – Western Cape
  • 2013: Finalist as CEO magazine’s Most Influential Women in Government and Business Africa
  • 2019: Second Runner-up WOZA Women in Law Awards Corporate Attorney (Practicing)
  • 2019: Finalist Standard Bank Topwomen Awards Top Young Achiever Under 40
  • 2020: Finalist Accenture Rising Star Awards Entrepreneur Category
  • 2022: First Runner-up WOZA Women in Law Awards Corporate Attorney (Practicing)


Mrs Schoeman-Louw has enjoyed the confidence of many successful entrepreneurs (both locally and abroad) over the years and continues to do so. As a trusted advisor she has actively contributed to the successes of many businesses, helped and continues to help many entrepreneurs build lasting legacies.

wayne jean-pierre

Wayne Jean – Pierre is the founding member of Freedoms South Africa NPO. The only non-profit organization to date that provides free service to assist persons who have come in- conflict with the law by providing Free assistance of clearing of criminal records. This is carried out as a passion of love with dignity and respect.

His clients include:

  • Citizens living in South Africa looking to make a fresh start in life.
  • Citizens living abroad
  • Juvenile and Adult Offenders
  • Persons Convicted of old apartheid laws
  • Community engagement as crime prevention



His community activism started as a youth and continues to date. He worked with National Youth Development Agency in 2000 providing Life Skills training nationally. In the height of the HIV/AIDS pandemic he worked by providing accredited training to industries, Non-Profit Organizations and other government departments. The training of organised labour within SAPS on HIV /AIDS the criminal and labour law was conducted to both educate and create a safer environment. He also assisted with both educating and putting policies and procedures in place regarding good practices for businesses. Some of the other work to date has been Human Rights Training to members of Foundation For Human Rights, CAOSA – Community Advice Offices South Africa, Legal Aid, ProBono.org and Legal Aid South Africa.

Wayne brings a well-established background of community activism, understanding of personal and community conflict, educational approaches to resolving conflict and a compassionate approach development.

His youth achievements and studies include Springbok Scout, HIV/AIDS Management, Project Management, Paralegal Practitioner, Non-Profit Management, Seta Accredited Facilitator and Assessor.

stephanie forbes

I completed matric at St. Andrews Girls School in Gauteng and then completed my Cambridge University A levels at St. John’s Collage. My tertiary education was at Wits where I completed a BA Hon in Sociology.

I started my career at SBS Household Appliances, now Smeg, and moved to the Western Cape to assist in opening their Cape Town office.

After starting a family I moved to work with the Kitchen Specialists Association, and after several years of running KSA Cape Town I was promoted to National Manager of the association, which also makes me a director of the association.


With a key component part of the association being the consumer, I implemented that all KSA staff dealing with consumer issues must have completed a mediation course and be a registered mediator. Consumer issues, advice, and guidance as well as dispute resolution remain a key part of the KSA’s daily activities.

Recently KSA has aligned itself with SAFI (the South African Furniture Initiative). We are working with organisations like DTI, SARS and IDC on a Furniture Industry Masterplan. I was nominated to the SAFI BOD in 2021 and I currently also chair the SAFI kitchen chamber as part of the master plan initiative.

charlotte theron

Charlotte Theron is a practicing advocate in the High Court. Specialising in Civil litigation, Criminal litigation and Family Law. She has a passion to help and assist people. She believes in solving problems without unnecessary litigation. Being the middle man to help people to communicate. Her passion for law ensure that justice is served. She believes that any small act of kindness and justice can lead to great possibilities.


eugene opperman

In everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently, out of the box. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our services evolve around you, the client, being innovative in our thinking, supportive, fair and being part of the solution when the challenge of family law issue presents itself. We just happen to be great attorneys and mediators as well.


Eugene has extensive experience spanning more than 22 years in a variety of legal fields and is able to resolve conflicts amicably for the benefit of all parties.


Eugene graduated with B.Proc. (UFS) and LL.B. (UNISA) degrees and completed an Advanced Diploma in Business Rescue Management as well as Adv Dipl in Medicina Forensis. He obtained his mediation training through LEAD and has been actively involved in mediation for the past 14 years. He has strong ties with the community doing pro bono work at many NGO’s and is actively involved with community training in the family law sector. He is the co-founder of the first non-profit company called the Institute of Social Development & Justice, that advocates and creates awareness of economic abuse in South Africa.


He can be contacted on 021-2000470 (9 lines) or eugene@oppermansinc.co.za or www.oppermansinc.co.za


tshepang langa

Mr Tshephang Langa is a graduate of University of Johannesburg in Post-Graduate Diploma in Labour Law, Wits School of Law in Labour Dispute Resolution Practice, Arbitration Foundation of South Africa (AFSA-University of Pretoria) in Advanced Alternative Dispute Resolution, UNISA in Labour Relations Management, Tshwane University of Technology in Local Government Finance B-Tech Degree, UNISA in Strategic Management, LGSETA in Municipal Financial Management and ETDP-SETA in Occupationally Directed Education Training and Development Practices.


He is an ADR Network SA accredited Mediator and Arbitrator, member of South African Society for Labour Law (SASLAW) and an associate of the Association of Arbitrators.


He was part of the fulltime senior Leadership of a Trade Union for 7 years and part of the union strategic and Bargaining Leadership. He has represented Trade Union members at Grievances, Disciplinary Hearings, Bargaining Council and the CCMA. Mr Langa is the Founder of Bakone Consulting and Projects, a dispute Resolution organisation based in Ekurhuleni, South Africa. His areas of specialisation is Labour Law/Relations, Mediation and Arbitration services.

For more information on the work Mr Langa does he can be contacted at bakoneconsulting101@gmail.com

Khodani Manyike

Admitted Attorney and accredited mediator with experience providing bespoke legal solutions to individuals and organizations. Possess solid competencies in commercial, criminal, family, labour, civil law, contract drafting, legal compliance, legal writing, and dispute resolution.

albert gumbi

As a certified debt counsellor with the NCR (NCRDC2475) for the past 8 years, I have always wanted to assist debtors in a variety of ways than simply referring cases to the courts

Due to my qualification as an ADR-NetworkSA Mediator and my ability to handle Rule41A, Court Annexed Mediation, and Debtor-Creditor Dispute Resolution, I will be able to assist Debtors and Creditors in making new arrangements and I will also resolve disputes between Human Resources and employees, as my primary clients are corporations.

I completed Debt Counseling at Damelin Business College in 2014; I am still working on the Business rescue course.


Ronelle Joubert

Ronelle is a mediator trained in family, commercial and workplace mediation with ADR Network SA. She is also a trained psychologist and has combined her skills to develop a growing family mediation practice.


  • Based in Hoedspruit she offers the following services:
  • Individual Therapy/Counseling – Coaching – Trauma Counselling
  • Parental Guidance – Marriage Counselling – Abuse
  • Co-Dependency/Dependency Therapy
  • Pastoral Therapy – Stress and Anxiety – GriefShare
  • Ecometric Assessments for Adults, Students and Children
  • Personal Driving Dynamics – Teenage Counceling
  • Career Planning for high School Students
  • Studies within Functional Therapy – Corporate Assessments
  • Therapeutic Play
  • Integrative Restorative Mediation and Arbitration Services


Maartin Oliver

I started my career in Town Planning before I decided to follow my real passion: Law. I completed my LLB part-time through UNISA while working in Town Planning and these days I am part of a boutique law firm in the Helderberg. We specialise mostly in, but not limited to, family law and commercial litigation.


I am one of the founding members of the Institute of Social Development & Justice, a non-profit organisation that creates awareness and educates with regards to all matters of economic abuse between parties in certain relationships.


This is relatively unknown field of conflict in the South African legal framework and alternative dispute resolution methods such as mediation proofs to be extremely beneficial in this field. This is how I got involved in alternative dispute resolution and why I completed my training with ADR Network South Africa.

My contact number is 021 200 0470 or e-mail: maartin@oppermansinc.co.za. If you are ready for an out-of-the-box approach to dispute resolution you are welcome to contact me.

Rasivhaga edwin dowelani

Mr Rasivhaga Edwin Dowelani is a Land Reform Practitioner with 15 years of experience in mediation on land rights disputes between farmdwellers and farm-owners, disputes among members of land holding entities such as Communal Properties Associations and Trusts. Disputes among Traditional Councils and their subjects on land use rights, Disputes on boundaries between traditional councils.

He worked within the Land Rights Management Facility of the Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development and received in house trainings on Legislative Mechanism for Conflict Resolution facilitated by Maenetja Attorneys and Ashraf Mahomed Attorneys in 2017 and Introduction to Mediation by Cheadle Thompson Haysom Inc.& Resolve Group in 2011.He holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration (MPA) and a certificate in Disputes Procedures both from the University of Pretoria. He constructively served in various structures of the Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development for development and review of land tenure policies and legislations Mr Dowelani can be contacted at 078 747 4747. Email: rdowelani777@gmail.com


VULANI MALUMBETE-BALOYI

Vulani graduated with a BProc degree from the University of Fort Hare and an LLB from the University of Limpopo in 1993 and 2003 respectively. She was admitted as an attorney in 2001 and has extensive experience in both Corporate and Public Sectors.

Vulani is a former commissioner at the CCMA and currently serves as a panellist to the General Public Service Sectoral Bargaining Council. She was a member of the Panel of Assessors at the Department of Transport Limpopo where she amassed a wealth of knowledge in resolving disputes relating to the Taxi industry.

She has been on the Operating Licenses Board – Limpopo (now PRE) since 2011.

Vulani’s qualifications also include an Advanced Diploma in Labour Law (UJ), Diploma in Roads and Transport Management (UJ) as well as an ADR network SA Program in Mediation (including court-annexed mediation).

Practice Areas

  • Medical Negligence and Personal Injury
  • Labour and Employment law
  • Transport law
  • Family law
  • Commercial law and Tax
  • Municipal law


LAWRENCE SILHUMBUZO DUZE

Lawrence is an ADR Network SA-trained mediator. He also did further training with us in debtor and creditor disputes. He is an ADR agent registered with the NCR and has 15 years experience in Debt Mediation.

Yaseen Suliman

Yaseen has been involved in Meditations/Arbitrations in finance, Islamic finance, Islamic domestic dispute resolutions. He is an ADR Network SA-trained mediator and arbitrator and member of our panel.

prebashnie moonsamie

I am Miss. Prebashnie Moonsamie, an adult Female Attorney and Conveyancer with Admission as an Attorney of the High Court on the 14th of October 2008 and Admission as a Conveyancer on 15th October 2018. I am qualified as an accredited Mediator in July 2020. Currently Managing Attorney of Iqbal Mahomed Attorneys since April

2022. I served my Articles of Clerkship at Iqbal Mahomed Attorneys from

2006 to 2008 and after admission, I stayed on as a Professional Assistant until 2012. I obtained Right of Appearance in the High Court in February 2009. In 2012 I served a short stint in the corporate arena working for a Property Management Company in

the Legal department and completed an Advanced certificate in Business Rescue Practice through Unisa in 2012 before returning to my passion of Litigation in February 2013 where I took on the role

of Head of Litigation at Iqbal Mahomed Attorneys until April 2018.


In May 2018 I was employed as Senior Associate and Conveyancer at Mphela & Associates Attorneys which is situated in Menlo Park, Pretoria. From December 2020 I was appointed as a RAF State Attorney until March 2022. Currently serve on the Investigating & Disciplinary Committee of the Gauteng Legal Practice Council. I serve on the Board of LifeLine Pretoria as the Vice Chairperson, and I am a qualified counsellor for LifeLine Pretoria and counsel on a regular basis as my social responsibility and dedication to mental wellbeing. Activist against GBV- Award of recognition from WOZA Women in Law 2020. I regard myself as a Litigation Specialist as I have extensive knowledge in High and Magistrate Court

Litigation (with court appearance at High Court). More specifically Civil litigation, specialising in Personal Injury Claims (MVA, especially High Value/High Risk Claims and Medical Negligence, Unlawful arrest, Slip and Falls), Debt Collection, Family Law, and Commercial Litigation. I have a keen interest in Mediation as a preferred alternative dispute resolution to litigation. I have completed Judicial Skills Training Course offered by LSSA LEAD, Mpumalanga 2019. I have acted on behalf of the Road Accident Fund (RAF) and Law Society of the Northern Provinces (LSNP) now LPC as a Litigation panel Attorney. I was instrumental in the process of securing maintaining the ongoing relationships with these two major clients. As a result of RAF litigation, I have also been skilled in investigation and compliance. I liaise frequently with medical experts to better understand the extent of injuries and the subsequent impact on Claimant’s. Completed Medical Law course through the LSSA(LEAD) in 2019. I have a workable knowledge and understanding of the Consumer Protection Act, Companies Act and Labour Law (Employment contracts). Completed 40 hours prescribed mediation training with ADR NetworkSA in July 2020. Completed Practice Management Training 2nd Intake LEAD July 2020. Nominated for and ran to serve on the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund Board as at October 2020. Appointed an EXCO member of the Pretoria Attorneys Association. MBA candidate since February 2022 to be completed in December 2023.

natasja Stroebel

I am Registered Nurse with a Diploma in Nursing.

I am a qualified Paralegal and currently a BA Law student.

I have extensive experience in specifically child maintenance matters and knowledge of both the criminal and civil maintenance areas, being subjected to the intricacies of this field.

I have experience with assisting community members with maintenance and care and contact issues and parenting plans.

My love for the law stems from a personal journey in which I have experienced the trauma and damage caused by litigation and believe firmly that family matters should be mediated as it always is a win-win for both parties and the best interest of the child is always paramount, which lies very close to my heart.

leon forsman

Leon Forsman a SAAM accredited mediator. I work in the family and property fields.

Aubrey Ngwatle

Mr Aubrey Ngwatle obtained Certificate in Criminal Justice System from Technikon Pretoria (Now TUT). Certificate in Real Estate From Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB). Diploma in Paralegal studies (Law) from university of Johannesburg.Graduate of Bachelor of laws (LLB) from the University of South Africa.


Work experience


10 years of immense of knowledge and experience from labour unions. Served as Union official of Commercial Workers union of South Africa (CUSA) representing workers at CCMA and Labour Court. Worked also at Workers Labour Council – SA as Paralegal officer for 3 years.



Currently serving as the Manager of operations and Compliance at Moletsi Dithabeng Mining (Pty) Ltd. Serve also as sole Director of LLH Paralegal and labour Solutions assisting the emerging companies with legal compliance on COIDA, Contracts of Employment and development of Employment Equity plans. Contacts 0718797444 /angwatle29@gmail.com

Xolisa Jwili

Xoliswa Jwili, a social justice from KwaZulu-Natal obtained her LLB degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2019. Founder and Director of Jwili Legal Consultants & Bonwabile Foundation, Miss Jwili has dedicated her focus to addressing social skills in her capacity as an ADR practitioner and as a human rights ambassador.

Miss Jwili was elected as the ambassador at Youth for Human Rights International and is also currently serving as a Democracy Works 2020 fellow. She served as the people’s coalition -C19- KZN convener and is on the conflict resolution task team.

As an accredited and court-annexed ADR practitioner, Miss Jwili handles credit disputes, labour law, family law and personal injury cases.


Vanessa van niekerk

I am a Panellist for the Alternative Dispute Resolution Network of South Africa and am a registered Alternative dispute Resolution Mediator and Arbitrator including Court Annexed Mediation.

I have a passion for Medical Law and Family law specifically Children’s Court. I serve as a member of the Executive Board of Directors for the Local Child Welfare Organisation.

I am a licensed Financial Planner with 10 years experience and the co-owner of a Financial Service Practice. I completed my Regulatory Examinations in 2011 and had an article published in the Risk SA Magazine regarding the Regulatory Examinations in March 2012.


I am in the process of launching a project with the assistance of the Department of Education, the Department of Social Development and the support from the Children’s Court and Family Violence Court to introduce Restorative Justice Practices in the schools in an attempt to curb spiralling discipline problems and the rate of recidivism in SA due to ineffective punitive processes being applied.

The contentious issue of the NHI has particularly grabbed my attention and I have endeavoured to analyse and understand fully what the effect of the NHI will be on the Medical Professions as well as the executability thereof.

I am a member of the Executive Board of Directors for the Springs & KwaThema Child Welfare Society.

I do CPD training for the medical industry (Accredited HPCSA CPD) Topics include ; Unethical Conduct, Medical Negligence, Informed Consent, Criminal & Dilectual Liability.


adv. Matshidiso johannah lekwape

Advocate Matshidiso Johannah Lekwape is a litigation practitioner. Advocate Lekwape has completed training as a mediator with ADR Network South Africa. A member of the ADR Network panel since 2019.

Advocate Lekwape has a law degree, and has acquired these qualifications as well: certificate in labour dispute resolution practice, certificate in money laundering control, certificate in the Law of Banking and Financial Markets, and short course in internet research. Completed trainings are as follows: introduction to compliance course, advanced trial advocacy, conflict management skills programme, introduction to medical law, and commercial law practice.

She has worked for scorpion legal protection as a legal advisor, road accident fund as a litigation officer, Nedbank as a money laundering researcher and compliance analyst.

Advocate Lekwape currently practicing and is a member of the national forum of advocates and a member of the legal practice council.


RAEESA RHEMTULA

Raeesa is a practicing attorney with additional training in corporate law and Labour law. She had also trained with ADR NETWORK SA as a mediator and arbitrator with specialisation sin family, personal injury and commercial disputes. We are proud to welcome her onto our panel.

makaringe richard baloyi

I am Richard Baloyi. My work record has truly been a tour of duty with footprints in the following areas:

  1. A former Secondary School Teacher in the Mahumani Traditional Community area in Giyani, Limpopo in 1981 to 1982;
  2. A former Transport Officer with the Department of Agriculture in Giyani in 1984 to 1994;
  3. A former Community Development Officer with Eskom, based in the Northern Region and stationed in Tzaneen as part of the Phalaborwa Customer Service Area, servicing part of Limpopo Province and part of Mpumalanga, in 1994 to 1995;
  4. A former Customer Service Manager with Eskom in the same Phalaborwa Customer Service Area of the Northern Region, stationed in Polokwane and servicing the same areas as indicated above in 1995 to 1996;
  5. A former Electrification Planning Manager with Eskom in the Northern Region, stationed in Polokwane and servicing the whole of Limpopo Province, part of Mpumalanga, part of Gauteng (Pretoria East) and part of North West in 1996 to 1999;
  6. A former Part-time Mayor of the Greater Giyani Transitional Local Council (Municipality) in 1997 to 1999;
  7. A former Member of South Africa’s Parliament (National Assembly) based in Cape Town and served in several Portfolio Committees and Whippery structures in 1999 to 2013;
  8. A former Minister of the South African Government responsible for Public Service and Administration (PSA) in 2008 to 2011;
  9. A former Minister responsible for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) in 2011 to 2013’;
  10. A former Diplomat in the position of South Africa’s Ambassador in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) in 2013 to 2019;
  11. A current small scale farmer in Crop Production and Animal Husbandry in 2011 to-date; and
  12. Now a Mediator from 2019 to-date and of late with ADR NETWORK SA.


SHABNAM PALESA MOHAMED

With a passion for justice and peace, Shabnam Palesa Mohamed is a qualified non-practising attorney, who graduated with Dean’s Commendations in Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, and Legal Method. She is also an award-winning human rights activist, author, public speaker, and radio journalist who has interviewed luminaries like Judge Thumba Pillay, Prof. David Mcquoid-Mason, and former acting judge Rehana Khan Parker. Shabnam Palesa believes that mediation is a powerful way to transform our world into a more equitable and peaceful place.

Shabnam Palesa has a special interest in children’s rights, collaborative divorce, and family law. She served on the board of veteran NGO Advice Desk for the Abused, which was co-founded by former United Nations Judge, Navi Pillay. As the manager of a visual arts education college, she is comfortable applying her creative mind to any dispute needing out-the-box, innovative, and practical thinking. Her goal is to help you save time, expenses, and your health by facilitating empowering win-win solutions.

“If you want a mediator who believes in Ubuntu, and who values dignity and peace of mind, I will walk the mediation path of success with you.”

To get in touch with Shabnam Palesa Mohamed please email panel@adr-Networksa.co.za.


HLAHLA MACHOENE MATHEWS

Hlahla Machoene Mathews is a Labour Relations Officer with additional training in Paralegal Studies. He completed his training as a Mediator with ADR NETWORK SA and a is member of ADR NETWORK SA panel of mediators. Specialising in Labour disputes, personal injury, medical negligence and road accidents.

ANNE JAMOTTE

I have extensive Medico Legal Experience of over 25 years as an Industrial Psychologist. Supervisor for the registration of intern psychologists with the Medical and Dental Council/Health professional council for over 10 years.

As an Industrial Psychologist I have consulted with numerous organisations, corporates and voluntary organisations in all aspects of human resources for over 35 years. I have been providing service as an expert witness in RAF matters and medical negligence matters, general attacks and assaults, and incidents in the workplace, for both the defendant as well as the plaintiff.

I was involved in a joint publication with Sue Creighton on “How to avoid the corporate nightmare: a management guide to crisis and disasters”.

I have extensive experience in facilitation which I bring to the mediation process as well as the training and experience as a Psychologist which ensures a sympathetic and conciliatory style of dealing with conflict resolution.


DR RAJENDRAN GOVENDER

Dr Rajendran Thangavelu Govender is a Social Anthropologist with vast experience in the Public Service Sector with a string of academic and professional qualifications.

He is a Social Cohesion Advocate for the National Department of Arts and Culture with a deep passion for Social Cohesion and Nation Building. Dr Govender has received numerous awards for social activism and community development. He has recently trained with and accredited to ADR Network SA as a mediator.


COLLINS CHIRUME


I am a freelance legal advisor who holds an LLB degree from the University of Limpopo. I am an ADR Network SA-trained mediator based in Polokwane. I am well versed in labour law issues and I am currently pursuing a Masters in Labour Law. My Areas of interest/specialisation are in Workplace Mediation.

viv greene

Viv is originally from the Northwest of England having worked in the Insurance and Recruitment industries. She moved to South Africa in 1996. In 1997 she commenced studying at UKZN and obtained her Social Science degree majoring in Law & Psychology in 2000 and her LLB in 2002. She has been practicing as an Attorney and Notary Public since 2004 focusing on all areas of civil litigation.

She has completed her training as a Mediator with ADR NETWORK SA and a is member of ADR NETWORK SA panel of mediators. She specialises in family law and divorce, personal injury, medical negligence and road accidents.

She has taken part in the SAMLA RAF Pilot project as an observer in several mediations and is also an accredited SAMLA member.


denzile reddiar

Denzile Reddiar is seasoned ADR practitioner, academic and passionate about justice, with a special interest in the area of labour, social and restorative justice. He has experience in forensic investigations, risk and compliance in a number of specialists industries including banking, gaming and betting, FMCG, logistics, audits (internal & external) and petroleum. He is the chairman of DENZILE REDDIAR & ASSOCIATES (PTY) LTD and the founder and chairman of STEP UP FOUNDATION. He has served on the boards of other NPO’s including Ribbons for Roses and Shine Magazine. He has a BCom degree in information management from the prestigious Oxford- Brookes university in the UK, along with other specialisations including:

  • Labour Studies (LLM) (UKZN) School Of Law
  • Post Graduate In Industrial Relations (UKZN) School Of Law -Provincial & Local Government Law (UNISA)
  • Certified BBBEE Empowerment Technician (CET) -Intellectual Property Law (UNISA)
  • Certified International Risk And Compliance Professional (IARCP) Washington
  • Dactylogarphy (Lexus Nexus)
  • Certified Mediator And Court Annexed Mediator (ADR-SA) -Certified In Divorce Mediation
  • Seta Accredited Facilitator, Assessor And Moderator -Regulatory Exams For Key Individuals Cat I,II,IIA,III & IV -Facilitating Communication And Change In An Organization (AOSIS)
  • Managing And Organization Ethics (Kings III) (AOSIS) -Legal Aspects Of Electronic Commerce (UNISA)
  • Unfair Competition Law (UNISA)
  • Estate Agencies Affairs Board Exam (EAAB)
  • A+ Service Engineer (Hardware & Software)
  • Microsoft Office User Specialist (Mous)
  • N+ (IT Networking)
  • Security And Ethics In Information Systems
  • Anti-money Laundering Officer


SANDIPA RAMKISSOON

Sandipa Ramkissoon is a director at SSR Attorneys. She holds a Master’s Degree in Labour Law and is a Specialist Attorney providing services such as:

  • Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Labour and Employment Law
  • Drafting of Contracts and Wills
  • Public Speaking, Training, Workshop and Other Legal Services


bonolo selesho

Bonolo Selesho is currently in private practice and specialised in personal injury, public liability, insurance and administration of estates law. She has also previously assisted in assessing disciplinary proceedings at University of Johannesburg’s Student Ethics and Judicial Services Committee.

Ms. Selesho is a LLM candidate at the University of South Africa with Human Rights Litigation as her focus area. She is a qualified mediator and panellist of the ADR Network SA and values alternative dispute resolution as it enables potential litigants to enforce their legal rights in a manner that it timeous, financially viable and in most instances, maintains a good relation amongst the parties post the dispute.

Furthermore, she is committed to assisting the vulnerable of our society and serves as the leader of the Compassion Ministry (Community Service Division) of Every Nation Durban.


CHARMAINE POTGIETER-DU TOIT

Charmaine is passionate about well-functioning inter-personal relationships. Her involvement in both the worlds of business and Christian ministry is testimony to this.

During many years’ service in client relations in the motor industry, labor relations and as leader in children’s worship and care groups ministry, she has learnt that people will forget what you said to them and they will forget what you had done to them, but they remember how you made them feel.

Charmaine employs the valuable experiences and truths gained over decades in her role as mediator and peace broker.


COLLINS CHIRUME

I am a freelance legal advisor who holds an LLB degree from the University of Limpopo. I am an ADR Network SA-trained mediator based in Polokwane. I am well versed in labour law issues and I am currently pursuing a Masters in Labour Law. My Areas of interest/specialisation are in Workplace Mediation.

DR DARREN SUBRAMANIEN

Dr Darren Subramanien is a Senior Lecturer in the fields of Commercial Law, Corporate Law and the Law of Contract at the School of Law.

He lectures these modules at both undergraduate and at postgraduate level. He holds a Bachelor and Laws (LLB) degree, a Master of Laws (LLM) and PhD from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).

Dr Subramanien is also an admitted Advocate of the High Court of South Africa and is a certified mediator and arbitrator in civil and commercial matters. Dr Subramanien’s areas of expertise are in the fields of Corporate law, Commercial law, Labour law and the law of Contract.


MARK GLASSON

With 30 years of senior management experience in the government and private sector, Mark Glasson & Associates are highly qualified to provide professional and confidential Alternative Dispute Resolution. Specialising in restorative justice, mediation and conciliation, we work with both parties to provide non-adversarial resolutions for a broad spectrum of disputes.



Areas of expertise include:

  • Commercial Disputes: Debtor vs creditor; landlord vs tenant; supplier vs customer and boardroom disputes.
  • Labour Matters: Employee vs employer; unions vs employer/employers; bargaining councils vs members; chairing of fact-finding processes; disciplinary hearings and employee incapacity.
  • Property Matters: Construction suppliers vs construction companies (from dwellings to major works); landlord vs tenant; chairing of high conflict board meetings and bodies corporate meetings; sectional title disputes; AGMs and dialogue processes.

What we offer:

  • We provide unbiased mediation, which is far less time consuming, to reach resolution of disputes.
  • We ensure that the matter remains strictly confidential.
  • We provide, through facilitation, a win-win situation for both parties in a dispute.
  • We are less expensive than litigation.
  • Our process is flexible and avoids technicalities.
  • Mediation is a voluntary process for both parties.
  • We promote reconciliation.


TSHEGOFATSO CHILWANE

Tshegofatso Chilwane is a young candidate attorney, completing her articles at a law firm that specializes in litigation, corporate law and family law.

She is passionate about mentorship and was a mentee in The South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges Mentorship program. She was also mentor to first year students under the Stars Mentorship programme

She is young, determined and eager to use and apply her knowledge of the law to the world of alternative dispute resolution.


van gend botha

Van Gend Botha is an advocate with more than 40 years’ experience, first as an attorney and since 2013 as an advocate. He obtained a B. Proc degree from North West University, a Bachelor of Law from UNISA and a Master’s degree in Law from University of Pretoria. During 2020 he completed the 64h Family Mediation course at the Mediation Academy and was certified as a mediator and negotiator by ADR-International and is also a member of ADR South Africa. Van Gend is also a member of SAMLA and is part of the RAF mediation pilot project, which is being undertaken by SAMLA.

He spent the greater part of his professional career in resolving challenges pertaining to land tenure and the development of low-cost housing. He was appointed as legal coordinator of the Transfer of Residential Properties-project by the Gauteng Provincial Government during 1994. This position involved the appointment and training of approximately 120 attorneys and advocates to perform adjudications of housing disputes on behalf of the Gauteng Provincial Government.

This transfer of residential properties started in 1994 and is still ongoing. His involvement spanned the period 1994 to 2004, during which time 26 000 housing disputes were successfully adjudicated and a total of 260 000 houses were transferred to formerly disadvantaged persons.

Van Gend recently acted as ombudsman to investigate disputes between a mine group and its mining employees regarding the quality of houses erected on behalf of the employees. At present he is involved in a project under the auspices of Pro Bono.Org to resolve the challenges posed by the so-called family houses which, according to family members belong to all of them, but which are usually registered in the name of only one family member, who may decide to act contrary to the wishes of the other family members. These challenges should be resolved through mediation, which would prevent any family feuds, which may occur in litigation.

Kesin Raman


A keen Rotarian and Board member of several Non-Profits ensures his Community Involvement.

A divorced father whose specific areas of focus are: Divorce, Access, Maintenance and Parental Plan Mediation with specific focus on the best interest of the child principles.

He has featured in several media interventions bringing awareness to the benefits of Mediation specifically in the Divorce environment.

He has also conducted ADR for Boards and Employee Disputes

His Business Experience as a serial entrepreneur have seen him work in Manufacturing, Wholesale and Retail, Management Consulting and Sale across several industries.

He is the holder of a B-BBEE MDP (WITS) NQF 7 as well as Facilitator, Assessor & Moderator qualifications.

He is also a Commissioner of Oaths by appointment.


Kesin “KAZ” Raman is a Durban based passionate Human Rights Activist, with special interests in Children’s Rights.

This started in the 90’s with his involvement in The Durban Youth Interaction Committee, a government funded and managed Youth Forum for High Schools. This led to further involvement with The Durban Youth Council, which continues to date.


SAKHILE SIBEKO

Sakhile obtained his LLB degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA) and has also been educated in Alternative Dispute Resolution by The Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA). Mr. Sibeko has established a solid foundation and experience. He has assisted clients in the areas of Civil Litigation (Magistrates & High Court), Corporate and Commercial Law; Contract Law; Evictions; Family Law; and Property Law. Sakhile has appeared on national television and radio, discussing property law and related matters. Mr Sibeko has also facilitated workshops for various institutions around Gauteng on issues pertaining to family and property law.

ron ries

I started my work experience with Telkom in 1981 and qualified as fitter and turner in 1984. I also worked in the building and construction dept of Telkom building exchanges as well as the vehicle inspection dept inspecting new vehicles and panel beaters.

I resigned from Telkom in 1992 to pursue a career in the Life Assurance Industry. I became one of the top 10 brokers for Southern Life, Metropolitan and Sanlam for the next 12 years.

I also had a micro lending business from 1999-2003. In 2004 I was managing debit orders for Debt Collecting Companies and I was also a debt collector until 2007.

From 2007 to date my wife and myself started a Debt Counselling Business, I have also trained on the National Credit Act, The Consumer Protection Act and the Debt Collectors Act.

I did my training as a Mediator in 2019.


MARYKE PIENAAR

Maryke Pienaar was born in Cape Town, and studied part time to complete her LLB Degree to become an Advocate.

She works with passion as well as communicates with the world and experience the world, through law.















“It always seems impossible until it’s done” – Nelson Mandela


zane hanekom

I am a Panellist for the Alternative Dispute Resolution Network of South Africa and am a registered Alternative Dispute Resolution Mediator and Arbitrator including Court Annexed Mediation.

I have a passion for Labour and Employment Law. I am currently employed as a Legal Official at Solidarity and also a member of SASLAW.

I hold a BCom degree in Labour Relations (NWU), Honours degree in Labour Relations and Labour Law(UP), diploma in Labour Law(UCT), and a post-graduate degree in Labour Law(NWU), which is fully accredited by the CCMA giving me full accreditation to become a CCMA Commissioner.


ANLIA ARCHER


Anlia Archer obtained her degree in Psychology and Criminology at the University of Pretoria in 2009. She completed her PGCE with specialization in the FET phase and further continued her studies by completing her B.Ed. Honours in Law, Management and Policy in 2015.

She has over 10 years’ experience in various fields within the Education Sector ranging from pre-school up until tertiary. She has experience in curriculum development, policy development and implementation, Education Management, Supervision and Lecturing. She currently holds the role of Industry and Labour Relations Specialist for the Education Sector at Solidarity.

She also participated and presented on numerous webinars and conferences on, amongst others, parenting, discipline and sensitivity training. She is extremely passionate about empowering others to reach their full potential.


ADV. VEERASH SRIKISON


Veerash Srikison is an admitted advocate and the founder of Fair Practice, a dispute resolution services organisation based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

She is a cum laude graduate of the Arbitration Foundation of South Africa (AFSA – University of Pretoria) in Alternate Dispute Resolution and is the lead trainer for Fair Practice and AFSA (Arbitration Foundation of South Africa) in mediation and negotiation skills training. Over the past 6 years she has trained over 350 professionals from all sectors, including presiding officers in our judiciary, senior members of the Bar Council and delegates from the South African defence force, in Mediation, Negotiation and Conflict Management.

She is a Harvard trained mediator and negotiator and has presided as a judge in Civil/Commercial Mediation and Negotiation competitions globally.


She is also an internationally accredited civil/commercial mediator and negotiator through CEDR (UK) and AOI (UK) She is the South African representative for ADR ODR International, a global network of accomplished mediators representing their countries from around the world.

In addition to her Mediation and Negotiation qualifications she has obtained an LLM (University of Pretoria) with a distinction merit for her dissertation on mediation in family law.

Veerash is a trustee of the organisation Matla A Bana – A Voice Against Child Abuse, and works closely with the SAPS in volunteering her time to assist where needed. Her passion for giving people a voice to reduce emotional trauma in disputes has made her an invited keynote speaker at numerous conferences and events.

She has become a known speaker on all media platforms endorsing peace over conflict and the empowerment of the vulnerable through her work as mediator in high conflict disputes.

For more information on the work Veerash does please go to www.fairpractice.co.za


ELWEE VAN DER MERWE

Elwee obtained the B.Proc (Law) degree in 1986 from the University of the Free State.

He was admitted as an attorney in 1986 and practiced full time as an attorney for 24 years.

He has a passion for alternative dispute resolution. He believes in “negotiate, mediate, arbitrate – don’t litigate”.

He is also an estate agent with Keller Williams Dynamic in Somerset West.


COBUS ROSSOUW

Cobus Rossouw is a Mediator who is passionate about alternate dispute resolution, restorative justice and and a Business Coach/Advisor helping tech firms develop and grow their services business.

He believes in building a better world, through better justice and growing businesses by developing their people.

Before settling into a mediation, coaching and mentorship role, Cobus spent 20 years working in small and medium business in the AEC and Manufacturing sectors. Starting as technical support he worked his way up as software developer, salesman, project manager, manager and director, growing several businesses from startup to healthy, stable and lucrative organisations.


As Services Director and shareholder at DocQnet Systems he:


  • Achieved his sales targets every year.
  • Delivered 95% of projects within time and budget.
  • Growing services revenue by 400% over a 4 year period.

Notable projects during that period were the delivery of document control and collaboration solutions to Gautrain. The Square Kilometre Array (SKA), De Beers/Anglo American, Kumba Iron Ore, South African Airways, SAAB Grintek Defence and Steinmuller Engineering Services.

These efforts culminated in the sale of the business to Bentley Systems in 2014.

In his spare time Cobus makes music, does woodwork, badly (though he is improving) and tries to make sure that he spends as much time reading as he does exercising. He also devotes a day a week to mentoring young black entrepreneurs and underprivileged scholars as an investment in the future of his country.

SIMO GODFREY NDLOVU

I am a qualified Paralegal with NQF level 5 and also a registered, certified and qualified Alternative Dispute Resolution Practitioner in Mediation, Arbitration and Negotiations in Family Law, Credit Law and Consumer Law.



I am regulated by ADR Network SA, Social Justice, Saam, International ADR Register and South African Paralegal Associations. I started to practice privately in 2013.


adv. thando gumede

Adv. Thando is an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa. She is completing her Masters in Constitutional Law and Human Rights Law (LLM) at the University of Cape Town, with a special focus on women, children, queer and disabled people’s lack of menstrual health attendance resources as a hindrance to accessing basic and higher education in South Africa.

She recently presented her first intervention speech on women’s leadership in decision-making spaces and public life at the 65th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. And, she also taught on “Language and Inclusivity” at the same event. Her organisation, Adv. Thando Gumede ZA, hosted South Africa’s first “international Women’s Peace Building Tea”. She continues to contribute to the greater social transformation project by educating communities, schools, organisations and businesses on Equity, Intersectionality and Feminism.

She is officially a “Global Generation Equality Advocate”. And, as part of the National Gender Machinery, she is actively contributing to the Pillars of National Strategic Plan on the eradication of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.

She is also the founder of an internationally award winning technology and start-up called, M-TETO Search Engine, which aims to use Artificial Intelligence to prevent and adequately respond to the global crisis of School-Related Gender-Based Violence, which occurs among diverse children and youths.


shailen singh

Founder and Chairman of Jems Foundation & Senior Pastor of House of David Church. I have completed BA Honours, Cum Laude through the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in 1999. I have completed my master’s degree through UKZN in 2016 where my thesis focused on the amendment to the Sexual Offences Act of 2007. I have a passion for community development with a focus on succession and empowering the next generation of future leaders.

wayne bolton

Wayne Bolton is an experienced mediator, arbitrator and businessman based in Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape. He studied at the University of Natal where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and English) followed by a Post-Graduate Diploma in Industrial Relations. In 2014 he completed the accredited CCMA Commissioners training course, the post-graduate Certificate in Labour Law Practice (NMMU), which he passed with distinction.

He has a desire to make a real difference through effective divorce mediation.

Wayne’s approachable character, years of diverse mediation and arbitration experience and his refined judgement, create a safe but constructive environment where parties can find common ground and secure lasting dispute resolution.

He is a principled man with a reputation for thoroughness, professionalism and strong leadership.

Wayne is first and foremost a family man, husband to Nikki and father to their two grown up children. He seeks to make a positive difference in the world in which we live, is the founder and Chairman of a non-profit company, an avid conservationist and a self-help author.


Corman olivier

Corman is a business partner for Altitude Employment Solutions in Johannesburg since 2017. Before that he worked as Human Resource practitioner for Chilli HR and was at that time involved in the Solar Photo Voltaic Plants at Prieska and De Aar.

He now specializes in Industrial Relations, CCMA activities and company disciplinary processes. He has a keen interest and passion with regard to all aspects of alternative dispute resolution, and is busy with his Master’s Degree thesis with regards to the use of mediation and models in individual labour law.


ADV. NOMTHANDAZO MTSWENI

Advocate Mtsweni is an experience litigant who has been in the legal profession for the past 23 years. In these 23 years she has had an opportunity to fill several roles mentioned hereunder:

1999- 2001 National Prosecution Authority as a public prosecutor both in District and Regional Court- Benoni.

2002-2010 State Advocate and Senior State Advocate at Johannesburg Director of Public Prosecutions where she gained valuable experience as a litigant and managerial skill- handled High Court Criminal matters, appeals and reviews.

2011 to date – resigned from NPA did her pupillage at Johannesburg Bar and now registered with Legal Practice Council – is currently running her successful practice mainly concentrating on personal damages claim arising from Minister of Police-unlawful arrest, Commercial litigation-contract, Road Accident Fund and Family Law matters.


raynard mclaren

Raynard served as a member of the South African Police Services for 16 years. During the last 4 years of his service he studied law at NMMU and graduated with a LLB Degree in 2006 where after he pursued a career in law.

He was registered as a Debt Counsellor in 2008 and admitted as an attorney in 2010. During 2013 he completed the Advanced Course in Business Rescue through the University of South Africa and has been a member of the South African Restructuring and Insolvency Practitioners Association (SARIPA) since 2014 and holds the designation of Business Rescue Professional (BRP).

Raynard is a trained Mediator and panelist of ADR Network SA and qualified in Court Annexed Mediation as well as High Court Mediation Rule 41A.


ADV. NTHABISENG SEPANYA MOGALE

Advocate Nthabiseng Sepanya Mogale holds B.A (Social Work); LLB and LLM in Human Rights & Constitutional Law at the University of the Witwatersrand. She is a practising Advocate of the High Court of South Africa since 2006 and a Commissioner of the Commission for Gender Equality(CGE), one of the institutions established by Chapter 9 (nine) of the Constitution to enhance democracy in South Africa.

Advocate Nthabiseng is chairperson of the Legal & Complaints committee of the CGE and a member of South African Women in Law (SAWLA). She holds various senior positions in all tiers of government. Worked as a Co-ordinator of the Reparations and Rehabilitation Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Has a passion for social justice especially involving the protection and promotion of the rights of women.


Henru Kruger

Henru Krüger, Sector Head, Professional Guild, Solidarity, Pretoria, South Africa.

Henru holds a degree in law from the University of Pretoria and is an admitted attorney to the High Court of South Africa. He also completed a financial degree at the University of South Africa, has served articles in Audit Specialism, and is a Certified Internal Auditor and Compliance Practitioner. He has previously worked in legal practice, external audit practice and the medical schemes’ industry, and is the current Sector Head of the Professional Guild at Solidarity that represents a membership of more than ten thousand professionals in private practice in South Africa.

Henru het ‘n graad in regte en finansies. Hy is ‘n toegelate prokureur tot die Hoë Hof in Suid-Afrika, en is ‘n gesertifiseerde interne ouditeur en nakomingsbeampte.


ADV. SYLVESTER JEWELL


Sylvester Jewell is an Advocate practising with a trust account, he has experience in commercial, criminal and civil law. He is a highly motivated professional with a proven track record in legal services from drafting papers in litigation to court appearances with argument.

Sylvester Jewell possesses a comprehensive understanding and skill set in aspects of law and practice. He is also a Certified Mediator and Arbitrator with ADR Network SA; Certified General Tax Practitioner with SAIT; a member with PLA, SAMLA, a registered military veteran.

Sylvester Jewell serves on the South African Council for Natural Science Professionals as a council member and Chairman of the Professional Conduct Committee.

Sylvester Jewell areas of speciality and interest include:



  • Companies Law, Corporate Governance and Procedures
  • Tax Law
  • Immigration Law
  • E-commerce and Crypto related matters
  • Labour Law
  • Civil Procedure
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Unjust Enrichment
  • Estoppel
  • Constitutional Law
  • Human Rights Law
  • Labour Law
  • Business Rescue, Liquidations and Insolvency
  • Customary Law
  • Third Party Claims
  • Personal and Family Law
  • Criminal Law
  • Will and Estate Administration
  • Pension Fund Law
  • FAIS and NCA related matters
  • Act as a Trustee and Administrator
  • General Litigation

Get in touch with Adv. Sylvester Jewell via s.jewell@advjewell.co.za | (+27) 78 038 6252


DARRAN MANIKAM

My name is Darran Manikam. I am a Registered Debt Counsellor with the National Credit Regulator, Reg Number: (NCRDC704). I Hold a Degree in Business Administration and is currently completing a LLB degree with UNISA.

I have been in practice in the Debt Counselling Space since 2010. Prior to entering the Debt Counselling space, I worked at 2 prestigious Law Firms, wherein I gained experience in various fields of law. I have completed my Mediation Certificate with ADR Network, I am keen and looking forward to expanding my career and business within the mediation field.


ADV. ARNAUSE RABATOME MOHLALA

Advocate Arnause Rabatome Mohlala holds a B.A. (Law) and Industrial Relations (Honours) degrees from the University of Kwazulu-Natal, an M Phil. In Labour Law and Labour Relations from the University of Johannesburg and an LLB degree at the University of South Africa.

He is a practicing advocate of the High Court of South Africa since January 2021 and was previously a Senior Commissioner of the CCMA for a period of twelve years. He has held various positions as an employment relations professional ranging as a union organiser to an employee relations Manager.

Advocate Mohlala is a seasoned Mediator and Arbitrator with more than twenty seven years experience and trained with the CCMA, AFSA, and ADR Network. He is panellist of the General Public Service Sector Bargaining Council (GPSSBC) and the Mediate Works, an alternative dispute resolution institution.

Whilst he is trained in litigation and arbitrator, he considers himself primarily as a mediator and specialises in labour mediation, divorce and family law, court annexed mediation, community and land disputes, political and any complex disputes that lent themselves to being mediated.


RETHABILE MOSESE

Attorney, Accredited ADR Practitioner, Legal Program Manager (LvA)

Rethabile joined Lawyers against Abuse (“LvA “) in 2015 where she oversees the provision of direct legal services and all state actor engagement initiatives across LvA Centres. LvA is a non-profit organisation that was established in 2011 to provide highly specialised, integrated legal services and therapy for victims of GBV, including sexual violence, domestic violence, and child abuse. Over the last decade, LvA has cultivated an innovative and integrated approach to combatting GBV that works deeply in individual communities to strengthen the justice system’s response to GBV while also providing comprehensive support to individual victims of abuse. Rethabile holds a BSocSci majoring in law and psychology (UCT), LLB (UCT) and is a M.Phil Candidate (SRRA, University of Pretoria, 2023).


Prior to joining LvA, Rethabile served her articles of clerkship with the University of Pretoria’s Law Clinic. Rethabile has over ten years’ experience in the social justice sector. Her interests lie in human rights law and transformative feminist leadership. She is a member of several leadership networks including Rise Up for Gender Equity, University of Cape Town Women in Leadership, Namati Legal Empowerment Leadership Network and American Express/Common Purpose Leadership Express, ADR Network SA and Society of gender professionals.

desiree david

Desiree David is a lecturer at the Nelson Mandela University in the Faculty of Law, in the Department of Criminal and Procedural Law. She is also an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa.

She currently lectures Evidence and Forensic Evidence, as well as aspects of Medical Law to the LLB and LLM students, as well as various aspects of Health Law to the students of Health Sciences. She has also lectured the EMT’s at NMU on aspects of Medical Law. She has recently began lecturing in the Diploma for Law Enforcement on Evidence and Pre Trial Procedures.

Desiree David is also the Principal of the School for Legal Practice, LSSA LEAD (Law Society of South African Legal Education and Development), in Port Elizabeth. She is a qualified Medical Malpractice Mediator, having completed training with Mediation in Motion in 2016. She has recently completed training with ADR-NETWORK SA. She also sits as a Gender Based Violence Expert of the Disciplinary Section for the Transformation Office at Nelson Mandela University.

She was recently elected as Chairperson of the South African Medico Legal Association (SAMLA) EC Branch.



She is also a trainer and facilitator for Street Law South Africa, and has been involved in the National Training Programmes throughout South Africa, including Succession Planning for the Department of Social Development, Education Law for School Management for SADTU, as well as field testing new materials for Street Laws Democracy for All Programme. She has conducted field research into besyt practices for magistrates in Child Justice Courts.

Desiree has delivered papers in various fields at both national and international conferences. She has also facilitated training sessions for participants at the Global Alliance For Justice Education in 2021.

During lockdown in 2020, when she was stranded in Nepal, Desiree served as the south African Co Ordinator for Forensic. India, in India.

She founded the Legal Integration Programme in 2019, with the aim to mentor students to facilitate the development of graduate attributes, community involvement, and fostering their personal development. She currently runs LIP at Nelson Mandela University.


ADV ANTHONY SCHNEHAGE

Anthony has been a practicing Advocate since 2018 with experience in criminal and civil law as well as its various branches. He obtained an LLB in 2017, admitted to practice in 2018 and obtained membership with the National Bar Council of South Africa after completing pupillage in the same year. Anthony is also a member of the Legal Practice Council of the Limpopo provincial branch and has acquired certification in Arbitration, Court Annexed Mediation and Divorce Mediation and is currently pursuing fields of mediation for companies and businesses. His fields expertise further includes Estoppel, Unjustified Enrichment, Commercial Law, Family Law, Labour Law, Estates and Succession, Contract Law and Tax Law. Certified Mediator & Arbitrator with ADR Network SA.

kevin mullins

Kevin Mullins offers a professional service to commercial clients in the growing area of

dispute resolution by mediation, as opposed to litigation. Kevin is trained in psychology, is an

admitted and practicing advocate of the High Court of South Africa and has conducted a

number of international negotiation and mediation skills courses for delegates in the UK, the

Middle East, Africa and Asia.



















His experience and skill in the fields of human behaviour and the law positions Kevin

extremely well to assist parties in dispute to reach an agreement that satisfies their needs.

Being adept at using remote meeting platforms like Zoom and MS Teams enhances his

ability to serve clients outside of his area of residence. Kevin is also able to offer adjudication

and arbitration services, due to his legal background.

Kevin lives in Durban, South Africa, and is married with two adult daughters. Apart from the

field of ADR and legal practice, he enjoys sports and wildlife photography in his spare time.

preston sheldon

He Obtained his LLB from (Unisa), Certificate in Forensic Examination from University of the Western Cape (UWC). He successfully completed a course in Legislative Drafting from University of Johannesburg (UJ). He is a Commercial Forensic Practitioner (FP) SA with the Institute of Commercial Forensic Practitioners (ICFP). He is currently completing his Post Grad Diploma in Public Management at Unisa. He is employed in the public sector, and is highly passionate about mediating disputes. He is also a Deputy Information Officer on POPIA in the public sector.

ARTHUR NIEKLAASSEN

Arthur Nieklaassen hails from the Kimberley in the Northern Cape Province, in South Africa .

He graduated with a BA in Law in 2006, trained as a debt counsellor in 2007, practiced as a

debt counsellor Ref: NCRDC260, attended the 60 Hour Course for Advocates, Attorneys and other

Legal Practitioners in Mediation via UCT. Arthur was the first and only debt counsellor at his time

who has managed to successfully obtained debt restructured court orders in favour of his (clients)

consumers –taxi clients against a commercial bank. With an impeccable record as a debt counsellor

the best in the country at the time, with fine skills of negotiating and resolving disputes, no matter

how big or small and or challenging, with speed and with a balance between the parties.

He got recruited to take up a legal managerial post in the banking sector herein he spearheaded the

debt restructuring department, since left and conducted in-house mediation throughout South

Africa.

He became a civil mediator because of the opportunity to help organisations and persons

with legal and any other problems, the “chess game” challenges presented by the adversary system, the opportunity to learn about the diverse issues involved in the wide range of cases he handled, and the drama of the courtroom. He has vast experience in Risk Management and Para-Legal matters. ( Law of agency, Contract Law, Common Law, Insolvency Law, Law of delict, Property Law, Company Law, Law of Partnerships and trust, Labour Law, Copyright Law, Patent Law, Family Law, Customary Law, Law of Person, Law of Succession, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, Administrative Law, Education Law). Arthur has joined the panel of ADRNETWORKSA, he has mediated in-house and independently for several years. He became a full-time mediator in May 2005, after almost 10 years in private practice, in advising and assisting thousands of consumers over the years to manage their finances, clear their salaries and bank accounts from un-procedural deductions from collectors and assisted many individuals to remove their names from the credit bureaux successfully. He is also involve in consumer education, he is teaching consumers legal and financial skill via ringtones, audio, CD, DVDs, Podcasts and now via online short courses.

BARRY PATRICK THOMAS LIVSEY

Barry Patrick Thomas Livsey, is a Chief Building Surveyor and Dispute Resolution

Practitioner, registered in terms of the Architectural Professions Act,2000.

He operates out of offices in central Westville with in-house boardroom facilities.

Barry is an accredited panel member & consultant to several Built Environment dispute

resolution bodies including the Master Builders Association, the Association of Arbitrators

(Southern Africa),the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and the UK Civil Mediation

Council (CMC)

Durban born, schooled at Kearsney College ,a full bursary student at the Durban University

of Technology, Barry has, since 1980 further extend his professional studies and , has

established himself as a leading dispute resolution practitioner focusing on the built

environment arena of ADR .



This encompasses Construction (Minor and Major works including sub-contracts),

Commercial & Industrial Property Management , Residential Community schemes ,

Hospitality/Tourism and the Food & Beverage Industry.

Barry has an acute sense of Contracts and Contract Law having spent over 25 years owning

& managing his own successful Construction and Development Company.

His all-round hands-on experience in these fields of expertise places him in an excellent

neutral oversight position between Management, Agents and Services providers in the ADR

arena incorporating resolutions processes such as Mediations, Adjudications, Arbitrations,

Expert determination and Mentorship.

tshepo keele

I am Tshepo Keele. A trained Mediator with ADR Network South Africa.


I have recently received training in Restorative Justice, Labour and Employment mediaton alongside Commercial Contracts mediation. Taking these short courses is centered on becoming a more holistic Mediator in society.


I am a Rhodes University Law graduate that majored in Legal Accounting, Constitutional Litigation, International Trade Law and Environmental Law.


The journey ahead is worth travelling. I am affording myself the opportunity to boldly take risks and be teachable.


james taylor

James Taylor spent close to twenty years in the educational sector as a secondary

school teacher and later a deputy headmaster. He has an Honours Degree in

Educational Leadership and Management (UJ) and he is a Gordon’s Institute of

Business Science Social Entrepreneurship graduate. His experiences in the

educational and NPO sectors have seen him develop an extensive understanding of

operational processes and project management, as well as being involved in various

disciplinary processes and hearings.

James is the founder of Conflictology, based in KwaZulu Natal, where he now works

full time as a mediator and conflict coach. James mediates commercial, workplace

and family disputes. He has been a qualified commercial mediator through CEDR

since 2011.

He is passionate about education and training, and he is involved in various projects

and initiatives that focus on improving adults and children’s ability to manage conflict

more effectively. He is currently working with Conflict Dynamics on the Peacemaker

project.

James utilises a relaxed, people-centred approach to conflict resolution and training,

to ensure the best possible experiences for those he works with.

leon terblanche

SENIOR CONSULTANT: Negotiation, Mediation, Legal Services, Compliance Officer, Trusts

and Deceased Estates, Mediation and Legal Services at TRADE and LEGAL (Pty) Ltd and CONSENSUS DISPUTE RESOLUTION (Pty) Ltd

I bring vast experience in business management, credit negotiations, company compliance, contract negotiations, mediated settlements in civil matters, mediated settlements personal injury matters and general alternative dispute resolution. During the past 2 years my focus have moved away from business mediation to concentrate more on Human Rights, Restorative Justice and International Human Rights Law. Currently I am studying towards a Master of


Laws degree at the Liverpool John Moores University and have already completed (and passed) the course-work at an Advanced Legal Diploma level. This includes the following courses: International Human Rights Law, International Law on War and Conflict,

International Labour Law, International Corporate Governance Law, International Criminal Law and lastly Advanced Research Methods. My thesis will be submitted on 15 January 2023. I am an accredited member in good standing of ADR NETWORK SA as well as the INTERNATIONAL ADR REGISTER and are available for assignments as Mediator or Negotiator online (worldwide) or

anywhere in Southern Africa.


leni snyman

Leni Snyman is a qualified mediator with eight years of pastoral therapy experience. She studied at NWU and specializes in pastoral therapy and a special field of interest is trauma and crisis intervention. Leni is a member ADR Network SA, Social Justice, ADR International and SAAM. Her passion is to assist families with children , Leni uses her positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work towards positive outcomes and succeed in building a functional future for all involved.

ADV. ARNAUSE RABATOME MOHLALA

Trish Palan-Ramchand is a multifaceted individual. She attained her LLB degree at the then University if Natal (Durban) and went on to complete her articles at the Legal Aid Board gaining both civil and criminal experience. She relocated to the Western Cape and gained experience in an insurance environment, cost consulting and immigration. She started her practice, VPR Attorneys, in 2014 attending to Divorce matters, Antenuptial Contracts, Contracts, Wills, Deceased estates etc.


Seeing a need for mediation as a means of resolving issues, Trish successfully completed the Civil/Commercial court-annexed mediation course in 2015. In 2017, she received her right of appearance to practice in the High Court Western Cape Division. During 2018 she spent a considerable amount of time dedicated to assisting the communities of Brackenfell and Kuils River with various different matters, on a Pro Bono basis in conjunction with ProBono.Org. She has been a member of the ADR since 2019.

With a vast repertoire of over 17 years’ worth of knowledge and experience, she strongly believes that there are practical, amicable and cost effective mechanisms to dealing with matters.


RETHABILE MOSESE

I hold a PhD – Philosophy of Religious Studies (Summa Cum Laude). My research examined how Church and State (Government) could work together for the Common Good of all.

I also have a Diploma in Corporate Business Management incorporating modules on Commercial Law and Human Resource Management amongst other commercial subjects.

My Master’s Degree (Summa Cum Laude) thesis focused on Christian Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics.

I am a Certified ADR Mediator and have successfully completed the Program on Mediation (including Court Annexed Mediation & Rule 41A).

Through sheer hard work and perseverance in 1991 I earned the Millionaires Club Award for my sterling performance as an External Financial Consultant at the United Building Society. I was amongst the Top 20 consultants in the country. I set very high standards for myself and am satisfied with nothing less than an excellent job done. I am a very good communicator and an excellent negotiator and these skills have helped me achieve great success.


In 2011 I attended a fully sponsored Advanced Leadership Training Program, at the Haggai Institute in Maui, Hawaii. I was joined by 50 other professional women from around the world. This program included a component on Conflict Resolution. This experience was paradigm shifting and life changing, going from a local to global understanding of women’s issues, prevalent in many other countries.

I had the privilege to serve on the South African National Board of the Haggai Institute for 2 years as their Financial Trustee.

I am passionate about fighting for women’s and child’s rights and equality issues-especially gender-based violence (GBV), sexual harassment in the workplace and proper education for all children. As a women rights campaigner I have always advocated for economic empowerment, peace and security, for women. Women need access to decision making platforms, locally, nationally and globally in order to have their voices heard.

I am a Mentee – Alumna of the Cherie Blair Foundation- having completed their Women in Business Program in 2020.

I have spent over 40 years in civic work, not only through the church, but also supporting various NGOs. This took the form of not only financial help, but also personal involvement in the form of counselling/mediating many marital and family disputes. I was involved in youth development through the local church for 15 years. My years of service has been pro bono.

Soon after my appointment at the Bank in 1973, I very quickly became aware of the disparity between racial groups, rank and salaries and also the inequities of job reservation. I took up the cudgels to address these anomalies and challenged the status quo with management, and achieved a measure of attention and success concerning these irregularities.

I am a very multi- talented, multi-skilled, and determined person who has achieved much through sheer hard work and passion. My Christian upbringing and teachings have informed and developed my passion for serving the public and helping people to rise above their circumstances and become better people relationally, socially, educationally and financially. I have a passion for peaceful co-existence and social cohesion amongst all people.

My desire to interact with people groups from around the world propelled me to travel worldwide since 1974. I am a peacemaker.

In 2012 I co-founded and co- designed the Kimbajacks Mathematic toolkits to help learners from Grades 1 to 12 improve their basic Math skills, this, after learning that the World Economic Forum had rated S.A. learners last in the world for Maths and English literacy. My desire for our children to have a better education kicked in, and Kimbajacks Pty Ltd was born. I also homeschooled my son from Grades 6 to 12.

My passion for change and serving the poor and marginalized led me to pursue all avenues, and in 2016, I was invited to join the African Christian Democratic Party and in the 2019 National Elections I was nominated as one of the Top 5 candidates to serve in Parliament.

In 2020 I served as Chairperson of the KZN UCDP Women’s League and also served as the Deputy Chairperson in the Ethekwini Metro Regional Committee. I promoted women’s leadership and solidarity.

I look forward to continue to serve my community and country with excellence.


margot davids

I am a well-qualified and experienced Social Worker of 42 years. I have recently retired but believe I still have a lot to contribute to the profession. As a result, I have registered as a private social work practitioner with the South African Council for Social Services Professions Registration number 10-07270 and the Board of Health Care Funders NPC Registration Number 1030760

I have built my career around the welfare of children as this is my absolute passion. I has developed sound skills in managing not only the operational issues that occur in daily running of childcare

organisations, but have become a specialist in the field of policy, strategy and people management.

During my career, I initially developed skills in the non-profit sector, where I had practical experience in child protection services. I expanded my skills and expertise in the child protection field as a Social Worker in Durban and in Boys Town ( Cape Town), SOS Children’s Village ( Ennerdale Johannesburg), and Johannesburg Child Welfare as a manager in foster Care.

I was employed for 7 years in the field of Mental health at the Wits Mental health Society in the areas of Mental health and Intellectual Disability.

My Master’s thesis ( MA Soc Science RAU) was on the impact on intellectual disability on family functioning.

I was appointed to Gauteng Department of Social Development, Government in 1995 as Director Statutory Services and later Chief Director Social Work Services. In 2003 I was appointed as Chief

Director – Children, in the national Department of Social Development. My duties entailed legislation ( promulgation of the Children’ Act) Drafting of national policies for children such as

Early Childhood Development, Standards for Street Children, Setting up of the Child Protection Register , policies for children affected and effected by HIV/Aids, overseeing National and Inter

Country Adoptions and implementing programmes to the benefit of the community, in particular vulnerable children

In all my managerial positions, I have been responsible for Human Resource management, including capacity building and ethics, and Labour Relations. I was nominated by the Minister of Social Development to the Professional Board of the South African Council for Social Service Practitioners where I served a three year term, dealing with professional conduct and disciplinary hearings.



Throughout my career I have been involved in training and capacity development both professional capacity and the personal capacity. I have trained students at various universities which includes, the Universities of Johannesburg, Western Cape, Pretoria and UNISA, as well as the recruitment and training of Auxiliary workers in the Department of Social Development

I had the privilege of participating on various international conferences as a delegate representing the Department of Social Development. A highlight of this was been part of the delegate on to the United Nations in Geneva and New York on the submission of the first Country Report as well as the World Summit Goals for Children and South Africa’s Social Development Representative on Social work issues to both the United Nations Special Session on Children 2001- March 2002 and the Pan African Conference on Children in Cairo May, 2001. These opportunities deepened my interest and passion for Child Rights. I attended the University of Lund Sweden where I completed a certificate course in Human Rights.

I have been the CEO at Johannesburg Child Welfare for 7 years until my retirement in February 2022 where I have managed a staff complement of 450 people with a range of statutory child protection programmes from prevention, early intervention children’s court programmes foster care and adoption programmes, HIV Aids and 2 residential care programmes. This has once again grounded me in the application of policy, legislation, and development of programmes. I have been requested by the Department of Justice and Correctional Services to train magistrates on the application of legislation on adoption in November 2021.

Despite my knowledge of the legislative and policy environment, I have always ensured that I have maintained my counselling and therapy skills whenever I had the opportunity to practice, this has

continued .

My speciality is Child Protection services where I offer individual therapy and counselling to adults and work with children in respect of court ordered supervision sessions. I can facilitate the drafting of Parenting plans according to court prescriptions and provide Child voice interview and reports and any other reports as prescribed by the Children’s Act 38 of 2005.

In a Behavioural Profile Analysis that I had recently completed the following was indicated: that I am an integrative leader who works with and through people to achieve my goals. I am an outgoing and communicative interaction with people and an ability to gain the respect and confidence of varied types of individuals around me.

I am an excellent motivator and manager of people, a good leader who can communicate well, and can be persuaded as well as persuade. I enjoy being part of the team, and assist the team to achieve goals and success.

Words which were used to describe me includes: – Self-starter, influential, persuasive, confident, friendly, decisive, mobile, active, alert, delegator, motivator, persistent and independent. These are positive aspects which contribute to my profile which describes me as a person.

As I am entering into a new field in terms of private practice in Social Work, I realised that I needed to further my knowledge and skills base.

Thus, I have acquired a certificate in Office Administration

through the Law Society of South Africa, LEAD (Legal Education and Development- Law). Recently I successfully trained through ADR Network SA on the Certificate in Alternative Dispute and

Mediation and a Certificate Program in Restorative Justice- Informed Divorce Mediation.

My practice is both medical aid and cash based.

I will continue to provide services which is of the highest professional and ethical standards.


ARTHUR NIEKLAASSEN

QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

1. Advocate of the High Court of South Africa

2. Admitted as an Attorney of the High Court of SA in March 1999

3. Admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of SA in January 2014

4. B. Juris (1995), LLB (1998), LLM (2003)5. Founded Mapipa-Ndlovu Attorneys in November 2007 incorporated as Lihle Mapipa-Ndlovu

Inc. Attorneys in 2011 then changed into a Legal Consulting firm in 2014 as Lihle Mapipa-

Ndlovu Inc, after admission as an Advocate.

6. Mediation short-course certificate – University of Cape Town, Faculty of Law, 2021

7. Mediation short-course certificate – ADR Network SA, 2022

8. Accredited Mediator with the ADR Network of SA, 2022

9. Mediation expertise & areas of interest:

a) Mediator since 2007 (15 years in 2022)

b) Family Advocate (Children)

c) Divorce; Land Disputes

d) Estates disputes

e) Community disputes

f) Social justice disputes

g) Criminal Justice issues

h) Contract negotiation and disputes

i) Labour disputes

j) Property disputes

10. Legal, Governance and Compliance expertise – She is an experienced presiding officer

and mediator. Has chaired and served as a member in various Tribunal, Governance

Committee, Board of Directors, in both private and public sectors.


ADV. T.P MAPIPA

QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

1. Advocate of the High Court of South Africa

2. Admitted as an Attorney of the High Court of SA in March 1999

3. Admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of SA in January 2014

4. B. Juris (1995), LLB (1998), LLM (2003)5. Founded Mapipa-Ndlovu Attorneys in November 2007 incorporated as Lihle Mapipa-Ndlovu

Inc. Attorneys in 2011 then changed into a Legal Consulting firm in 2014 as Lihle Mapipa-

Ndlovu Inc, after admission as an Advocate.

6. Mediation short-course certificate – University of Cape Town, Faculty of Law, 2021

7. Mediation short-course certificate – ADR Network SA, 2022

8. Accredited Mediator with the ADR Network of SA, 2022

9. Mediation expertise & areas of interest:

a) Mediator since 2007 (15 years in 2022)

b) Family Advocate (Children)

c) Divorce; Land Disputes

d) Estates disputes

e) Community disputes

f) Social justice disputes

g) Criminal Justice issues

h) Contract negotiation and disputes

i) Labour disputes

j) Property disputes

10. Legal, Governance and Compliance expertise – She is an experienced presiding officer

and mediator. Has chaired and served as a member in various Tribunal, Governance

Committee, Board of Directors, in both private and public sectors.


jenna bayer

Jenna Bayer is a Counselling Psychologist, Keynote Speaker, and Mediator. She has thirteen years’ experience in the education, business, and NGO sectors as well as working with various parastatals and government departments. Jenna’s experience includes individual and group therapy, career counselling, psychometric testing, and employee wellness.

Jenna has lectured Psychology Honours students in Community and Health Psychology. She is a regular guest on prominent radio and television stations such as 702 Talk Radio, SAFM, Newzroom Afrika and SABC news where she talks about pertinent and topical areas of mental health.



Jenna believes strongly that mental health is a human rights issue. She continues to champion mental health issues and counsel victims of gender-based violence addressing the stigma associated with mental health and advocating against injustices brought about by gender-based violence.

Amongst Jenna’s highlights is her work with WITS RHI Trans Health Centre in Braamfontein where she helped the transgender community navigate psycho-social and physical challenges; a former member of the steering committee for the Anti-Racism Network of South Africa; and is currently an ambassador for the Thuli Madonsela Foundation.

dr. harry tinashe

Dr Tinashe Harry is an Industrial Psychologist, Expert Witness and Mediator. He has expertise and interests in psycho-legal activities, individual and group counselling and coaching, and research in different areas such as psychobiographical research and mental health in the workplace

andrea coetzee

I grew up in a small town in the Eastern Cape called East London. I was born into an amazing family.

Unfortunately, my road was not always a straight one. I walked a road of addiction for 11 years.

Having walked a road of recovery myself, I knew my passion was to help people, particularly addicts of all ages, and the families affected by the life of an addict.

I have attained a level 4 addictions counsellor certificate – advanced addictions counsellor. I am also a certified mediator.

I counsel people battling substance abuse through recovery steps and many other counselling forms. I also mediate families where an addict is involved and help resolve any disputes that arise due to substance abuse.

Another focus of mine in mediations is children and parents in disputes and children and teachers in disputes.


stuart riddle

I am a full time Arbitrator, Adjudication, Amicable Settlement Facilitator with 12 years of experience

in Alternative Dispute Resolution, including DAB and expert witness appointments, and 42 years’

experience in the construction industry includes 24 years as Managing Director of a Grade 8CE GB

construction company. My qualification and memberships are: HNDT Civil; Professional Construction

Manager; Fellow of the Association of Arbitrators (Southern Africa); Presidents List SAICE; Panellist

CAASA (Construction Adjudication Association of South Africa) and Panellist Mediation Centre Port

Elizabeth. I reside in the Port Elizabeth area but have conducted many dispute resolution processes

via remote platforms and am therefore able to work in any area of the country.

hannah pistorius

I am an internationally accredited and nationally qualified mediator. Resolving divorces/parenting plans/maintenance & other disputes.

Accredited with ADR NETWORK SA and ADR Register International


ADV. THENJWA SELLEM


Advocate Thenjwa Sellem is currently an employee of the National Prosecuting Authority as

a Senior State Advocate on contract spanning from 01 April 2021 to 31 March 2024. He is

attached to the Specialized Commercial Crimes Unit (the SCCU) of the NPA at the DPP’s Office

in Mthatha, Eastern Cape Province. He is dealing with complex and high-profile commercial

crimes such as corruption, money laundering, racketeering, etc.


A special highlight reflective of his versatile and exceptional legal expertise (civil and criminal)

has recently been manifested in a matter of Mpapela v The State (Commercial Crimes Court,

Mthatha, Case Number RCCM25/2021, and High Court, Mthatha, Case Number

CA&R104/2021). This matter started in the Commercial Crimes Court, Mthatha, and ended

up being enrolled and heard at an opposed motion court, High Court, Eastern Cape Local

Division, Mthatha. A former Hawks Officer (the accused and now the applicant) was charged

and convicted of THEFT of R5035.90 (the trap money). Subsequently, he was sentenced to

undergo six years direct imprisonment. His applications for leave to appeal against conviction

and sentence, and the subsequent petition failed. The applicant launched an application for

rescission of the Petition Court Order in terms of Rule 42(1)(b) of the Uniform Rules of Court.

On 11 August 2022, the State, being represented by Adv. T Sellem during the hearing,

successfully argued that the application be dismissed with costs on punitive scale, payable de

bonis propriis by the attorneys of record for the applicant. The Honourable Justice Mjali J

referred to the arguments drafted and presented by Adv. T Sellem, and made an order

dismissing the application with punitive costs, payable de bonis propriis by the attorneys of

record for the applicant to the National Prosecuting Authority (the State), as argued by Adv.

T Sellem.

On 17 August 2022, after having attended interviews on 11 June 2022 and presented his

papers wherein he was, inter alia, nominated and recommended by Adv. Ndengezi SC, a

former Acting Judge in the past decade, the NBCSA Silk Committee, whose chairperson is Adv.

Harold Knopp SC, unanimously decided on merits to nominate Adv. T Sellem for the

conferment of Silk Status. This process is currently pending.

From January 2020 up to date, he has been one of the Executive Members of the Convocation

Committee of the University of Fort Hare. The University of Fort Hare, in collaboration with

its alumni and management, entrusted the Convocation Executive Committee with a strategic

role to make recommendations, after having embarked on comprehensive research, for the

amendment of the Convocation Constitution. This year, 2022, the Convocation Executive

Committee made its submissions to the university. The secretary of this committee is Adv. M.

Mgxashe (Contact Number 082 564 2152).

Between 01 January 2017 and 31 March 2021 he has been practising as a High Court

Advocate, and lately got registered with the LPC as a Trust Account Advocate, running and

managing the Advocate Thenjwa Sellem Chambers situated at 2A Chamberlain Road, Berea,

East London, Eastern Cape Province. The chambers housed four more advocates, to wit, Adv.

Nduzulwana, Adv. Samson, Adv. Msikinya and Adv. Silevana. Adv. T Sellem, during this period,

managed to mentor and to have four pupils admitted as Advocates of the High Court at

Grahamstown (now Makhanda) High Court, Eastern Cape Province. He also offered vacation

jobs to university students of whom two are currently graduates.

Areas of his general speciality include the Labour Law, Constitutional Law, Commercial Law

(criminal and civil), Banks Law, Social Media Law, Law of Contract, Law of Delict, Company

Law, Civil and Criminal Law and Procedure.

He is a member in good standing of the National Bar Council of South Africa (the NBCSA), a

Provincial Chairperson of the NBCSA in the Eastern Cape Province for 2021/2023 financial

years, a member in good standing of the Black Lawyers Association, a member in good

standing and a panellist of the ADR Group of South Africa, and a member in good standing of

the Legal Practice Council (the LPC) of South Africa.

He holds a B. Juris and an LLB (post-graduate) degrees from the University of Fort Hare (the

UFH), an NQF level 8 Certificate (post-graduate) in Commercial Law (Investigation and

Management of Cyber and Electronic Crime) from the University of Pretoria, a Computer

Literacy Certificate, and an Advanced Computer Literacy Certificate from the UFH.

In 2020 he attended and completed an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Course, obtained

a Mediation Certificate, and was registered and accredited as an International Mediator and

Panellist by the ADR Group of South Africa.

Topics covered during this training include Mediation and Arbitration, Conflict Resolution,

Restorative Justice, Workplace Disputes, Commercial Disputes, Family Disputes, Divorce

Disputes, Schools Disputes, Credit Dispute Resolution, Sport Disputes, Human Rights

Disputes, Insurance Disputes, Sectional Titles Disputes, Medical Negligence and Road

Accident disputes.

In the same year, he attended and completed a training on legal costs. On 04 September 2020

he obtained a Legal Costs Certificate from the Legal Education & Development of the Law

Society of South Africa.

In 2019 he attended and completed a Practical Management Training (PMT) in terms of

section 85(1)(b) of the Legal Practice Act, 28 of 2014 as approved by the Legal Practice Council

(the LPC).

Between 2004 and 2005 he attended and completed a Practical Legal Training (PLT) in terms

of section 7(5) of the Attorneys Act, 53 of 1979, as amended and section 11 of the Attorneys

Amendment Act, 87 of 1989, as approved by the Law Societies of South Africa.

From year 2000 to 2003 he worked as a Clerk of the Court and a Court Interpreter in the

Magistrate’s Court at Alice in the Eastern Cape Province. During the same period, he worked

as a Human Rights Facilitator and Intern in the Oliver Tambo Chair of Human Rights at the

UFH. He was during the same period a Tutor of the Law of Contract to third-year level students

in the Faculty of Law at the UFH.

In the first semester of 2003, he worked an Assistant Prosecutor in the National Prosecuting

Authority (the NPA) at New Law Courts in Port Elizabeth. From the second semester of 2003

until the end of 2005, he joined the Legal Aid Board at Port Elizabeth Justice Centre as a

Candidate Attorney with a right of appearance at District and Regional Courts, representing

indigent public members, especially women and children, in criminal and civil matters. In 2004

he was awarded a Certificate of Recognition as a Mr. Congeniality by the Port Elizabeth Justice

Centre.

From 01 December 2005 to 31 December 2017, he worked in the NPA in various jurisdictions

as a District Court Prosecutor (Oudtshoorn), Advanced District Court Prosecutor

(Queenstown), Junior State Advocate (DPP, South Gauteng) and a Senior State Advocate (DPP,

EC).

In 2003 he drafted a Constitution for the Africa Community Development, a non-profit

organization under the World Missionary Association. He served in this organization from

2003 to 2005 as a Cape Provinces Secretary General. The core vision of this organization was

to uplift the standard of the poor communities in Port Elizabeth and the Cape Provinces in

South Africa by soliciting funds from South Korea. He collaborated with South Korean

Missionaries during his tenure as a Pastor of Gospel Pilots Ministries Church.

Between 2018 and 2020 he registered and was appointed as one of the directors of private

companies, to wit, Online iTaxi (Pty) Ltd, BB PPES Service Providers (Pty) Ltd, TOSELU

Transports (Pty) Ltd, and South African Trading Authority (NPC). Currently, he is no longer

actively involved in these companies, but not yet removed as one of their directors.

In 2021 he bought 10 pairs of school shoes, in collaboration with the Former World Boxing

Champion, Macbuti Sinyabi (Contact Number 066 218 3339), whose project collected about

1000 pairs of school shoes, which shoes were donated at Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape

Province for the benefit of disadvantaged children.

From 01 January 2020 up to date, he has been overseeing and assisting in the Legal Section

of the Eastern Cape Province Men Against Violence Against Children, Women, and other

vulnerable groups of the society. Mr. Jongi Hoza (Contact Number 067 128 1376) is a

Secretary General of this NPO. The core vision of this organisation is primarily to carve young

men and inculcate on young and old men moral values and a sense of treating women and

children and other vulnerable groups with respect, dignity, and honour.

From 01 January 2014 to 31 December 2017, he was nominated and worked as a Shop

Steward and a Vice-Chairperson of the Eastern Cape Provincial NPA Committee in the Public

Servants Association (the PSA), representing prosecutors, junior and senior state advocates,

deputy and senior deputy directors, and other employees of the NPA in the Eastern Cape

Province in all labour matters.

On 09 December 2016 he represented the NPA in an International Anti-Corruption Day as one

of the Guest Speakers under the auspices of the Office of the Premier of the Eastern Cape

Province. His presentation was focused on ways to identify and combat instances of

corruption in the public sector.

In 2017, Izwilethemba Community Radio Station (93.8 FM) invited him as a Guest Speaker in

a thirty-minute session concerning the assault allegations of a South African Citizen by the

wife of the late Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, the Diplomatic Immunities and

Privileges Act, 37 of 2001, as amended, and Foreign States Immunities Act, 87 of 1981, as

amended.

On 12 August 2018 he participated in a five-minute interview with Keith Ngesi Online Radio

Station about the appointment of the South African NDPP future incumbent. On 15 August

2018 Izwilethemba Community Radio interviewed him in a 30-minute slot about the unlawful

and unconstitutional resignation of Mr. Nxasana (the erstwhile NDPP), the unlawful

appointment of Adv. Shaun Abrahams (the former NDPP), the unconstitutional and unlawful

handshake by the former President Zuma, the appointment of the Acting NDPP, and the

future of the South African NDPP’s seat.

During 1996, Adv. T Sellem worked in the first census after the advent of democracy as an

Enumerator in Mpofu District, Eastern Cape Province, visiting households in rural areas,

interviewing residents, completing enumeration questionnaires, and scanning their identity

documents. During the same year, Adv. T Sellem got self-employed, farming with broilers

(poultry) at Mpofu District. The Standard Bank of South Africa awarded him a grant of

approximately R500 000 to beef up his entrepreneurship. This business venture and the salary

received from Census enabled him to register as a law student in 1997 at the University of

Forthare.

He has accumulated approximately 22 years of legal experience up to date.


sashya de witt

I am a psychologist and completed my master’s degree in Psychology successfully in 2020. My dissertation focused on high-conflict divorce cases and Parental Alienation (specialization in Forensic Psychology).

I am currently completing my MBA in International Healthcare Management with a fully paid scholarship at UNICAF university (graduation in July 2023) and work daily in the Clinical Research Trial field with large Pharmaceutical sponsors globally on medicines potentially reaching market within the Neuroscience and CNS field.

I am currently a member of Focus on the Family Africa (Counselling Association as Psychologist); MSSA as Associate member for Mediation cases, as I am completing my 2nd phase of Mediation training (to complete end of April 2023) to be a Family Law Mediator in court cases where divorce and custody matters need facilitation.

I have also joined CRIMSA and currently awaiting membership letter

I use different therapeutic approaches for each client as I believe we are all made different and unique. Mainly base my therapy in CBT, Behavioural Therapy, Narrative therapy, and Humanistic/ Client-Centred counselling.

Favourite quote/Life motto:

” People will forget what you do,

People will forget what you say,

But people will never forget the way you made

them feel.”- Maya Angelou




Specialities:

  • Behavioural Therapy,
  • Cognitive Therapy,
  • Conflict Resolution Counselling,
  • Constructionist Counselling,
  • Couples Counselling,
  • Divorce Counselling,
  • Family Counselling,
  • Group Counselling,
  • Humanistic Therapy,
  • Individual Counselling,
  • Interpersonal Therapy,
  • Marriage Counselling,
  • Mental Health Counselling,
  • Psychologist,
  • Relationship Counselling,
  • Substance Abuse Counselling,
  • Systemic Counselling,
  • Teen Counselling,
  • Trauma Counselling


KHAYELIHLE (KHAYA) THANGO

Respected, experienced, performance-driven and compassionate Professional with the credentials to mediate on questions of law as well as hear arguments and review evidence and provide an unbiased ear that renders decisions regarding legal matters. Pursuing opportunities within a dynamic environment that will enable utilization of a wealth of experience, education, organizational, and interpersonal skills towards professional growth and success.



  • Deputy Chairperson | The Performing Arts Centre of the Free State Council
  • Chairperson | Emseni Community Project
  • Chairperson | Tax Board, KZN, South Africa, Kwazulu-Natal
  • Gambling Board
  • Former Director | AgriBusiness Development Agency
  • Ad Hoc Family Advocate KZN Assessor | Department of Labour
  • Member | The Association of Arbitrators of RSA
  • Lease Commercial Arbitrator
  • Former Director | KZN Growth Fund
  • Council Member | uMgungundlovu TVET College
  • Council Member | State Theatre


henk vd walt


I am a Labour Advisor for 25 years, assisting clients with, amongst others, negotiations, disciplinary hearings, CCMA representation, strike management and problem solving.

I was part of the team that implemented the provisions of the Labour Relations Act in Correctional Services during 1997 and 1998. Besides a National Diploma in Human Resources Management, I successfully completed an Advance Labour Relations Course (Cum Laude) and an Alternative Dispute Resolution Course with University of the Free State.

I also completed various other applicable courses presented by different service providers, including but not limited to the CCMA, ADR-network SA and Bruniqual and Associates.

I believe that all people must be treated fairly and all facts must be considered and evaluated unbiased.


dhillshaad adams

As an experienced and dedicated professional in conflict resolution and alternative dispute resolution (ADR), I am delighted to be part of the esteemed ADRnetworksa panel in South Africa. With a diverse background in Legal Compliance Management, Immigration Practitioner, Mediation, Medical Negligence, Conveyancing, Deceased Estates, Contracts, Dubai Company Registration, Dubai Freelance Visa, Full Stack Real Estate, SDR (Sales Development Representative), BDR (Business Development Representative), B2B (Business-to-Business), B2C (Business-to-Consumer), SAAS (Software as a Service), and SMMA (Social Media Marketing Agency), I am passionate about employing my expertise to foster a culture of fairness and collaboration.


Throughout my career, I have successfully navigated complex legal and business scenarios, ensuring that parties involved reach mutually beneficial agreements through effective mediation techniques. With a commitment to impartiality, ethical conduct, and a deep understanding of South African legal systems and practices, I am dedicated to facilitating open communication and productive negotiations in all ADR proceedings.


My strong communication and interpersonal skills have enabled me to bridge gaps between disputing parties, ensuring that conflicts are resolved efficiently, saving valuable time and resources. I believe in staying up-to-date with the latest laws, regulations, and industry developments, which further enhances my ability to provide fair and practical resolutions.



As an ADR panelist, I am enthusiastic about making a positive impact on South Africa’s business and legal landscape. By contributing to the success of your organization, I endeavor to promote harmony and constructive dispute resolution in diverse industries.


I invite you to reach out to me through info@legalhelpp.com or connect with me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhillshaad-adams-880366225/ to explore potential collaboration and learn more about my dedication to conflict resolution and ADR.


Thank you for considering my expertise, and I look forward to the opportunity to be part of this transformative journey with the esteemed ADR panel.


Sincerely,


Dhillshaad Adams

ADRnetworksa Panelist | Conflict Resolution Specialist

Email: info@legalhelpp.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhillshaad-adams-880366225/


ADV MARIETJIE VAN ASWEGEN


Practicing Advocate Doctoral candidate at North-West University/Noordwes-Universiteit

Accredited Mediator with ADR Network SA.


yvtette le roux

I am an accredited Internationally accredited mediator, arbitrator and an admitted advocate. I

mediated in a broad spectrum of matters ranging from civil litigation, commercial as well as family

related matters.

I am a panel member of ADR Network SA and a member of Lawyers without Borders and appear on

the international register of Alternative Dispute Practitioners. I am a practicing advocate and act on

behalf of various clients within the borders of South Africa. I am registered as advocate with the

National Bar Council of South Africa (NBCSA) as well as Legal Practice Council (LPC).

I taught Drafting of Contracts to Candidate Attorneys as part their legal practice exams. I also acted

as judge/expert assessor in several mediation and arbitration competitions and assist students in

preparation for their moot court competitions.

I did a course at Leiden University in International Human Rights Law and the University of

Pennsylvania in Intellectual Property and Contract law.

ori ben-zeev

Ori Ben-zeev (BA LLB (Wits)) is an advocate practising at the Johannesburg Society of Advocates,

having completed pupillage in 2013. Prior to this he acted as a law clerk to Justice Skweyiya and

Justice Zondo at the Constitutional Court of South Africa.

Ori has a diverse practice with an interest in cyber law, privacy and social media, and the right to

equality. He chairs numerous enquiries and hearings on a range of issues including addressing racism

in the workplace and employee incentive schemes. He also participated in a number of domestic and

international arbitrations and mediations, primarily in the entertainment, private education, and

transport sectors.


In 2016 Ori initiated the SABWiL Human Rights Court, a moot court focused on providing students,

particularly black women, with a practical experience of the work of an advocate. The initiative has

successfully run on an annual basis since then.

Ori presented two seminars to the Law Society of the Northern Provinces together with

Les Morison SC: one on Effective Litigation, and one on Legislative Drafting. In 2011 he presented his

research on the nature and scope of the right to dignity to the first annual Public Interest Law

Gathering.

ashley valenti

Ashley completed her Bachelor of Social Science ( Social Work) at KZN university and is a registered member of The South African Council for Social Service Professions and in addition a member of the South African Association of Educators. She has 26 years experience working with adolescents, tertiary students and complex family dynamics.


She is an ADR Network SA-trained mediator in Kwa Zulu Natal specializing in Divorce Mediation , Conflict within the school context and Family Systems Therapy.


Her interests include, world affairs, travel and all things Japanese.


hayley a solomons

My passion is people and working toward creating peace within themselves and myself. I thrive on open communication. I respect the challenges that others experience in this regard, and it is here, where my desire for healthy resolution lies, to actively encourage conflicting individuals to identify and engage in healthier, more beneficial ways of dealing with either their own internal and/or external conflicts. My desire to finding a balance in my life, by fulfilling my own basic needs in all areas, has found me embracing the desire to assist others meeting their own basic needs. This is why in recent years, after many years of childhood and adult trauma, and of working in retail and IT support where conflict arises in every corner of one’s career, I found my passion to pursuing my

psychology degree.

At this late stage in my life, I managed to complete 2years of undergraduate

study and my passion only grows deeper. I desire to complete my degree soonest circumstances

provide me opportunity, but for now am blessed to have recently attended and become certified as an ADR-NetworkSA Mediator including Rule41A and Court Annexed Mediation. It is through this very process called mediation, that I can now positively identify my true understanding and. application of American Psychologist, Abraham Maslow’s theory, which speaks to human beings reaching their true potential and becoming whom they are intended to be. This, he introduced through a list of what he refers to as the hierarchy of a human being’s basic needs. This in essence is what we aspire through the process of mediation, to have the consulting parties each achieving a fair sense of equality and equity by engaging themselves, via an appointed mediator, in a healthy discussion regarding what each one needs in order to leave their mediated session feeling hopeful with a fair resolution that benefits both parties. In so doing, saving them not only high costs but also restoring their dignity and sanity, and saving them the internal chaos that we are told is often the result of tedious litigation processes. I look forward to becoming an active participant of ADR-Network SA through ongoing training and engaging in areas where my current and future skills can be of benefit to others, and I thank ADR-Network sa for this promising opportunity of joining their panel.

INGA MNQANQENI

I am a young woman with a passion for social justice and equality. I matriculated in St. Johns College, Mthatha in 2017.

I then went to pursue my LLB degree at the Nelson Mandela University. I attained my LLB in 2022. I am certified in Mediations with the ADR network RSA. I like to work with people and I also believe in resolving disputes amicably.


annelise petzer

I am a friendly, articulate and career focused individual. The years I spent working as a Casting Agent, in addition to my time as a Candidate Legal Practitioner, helped me perfect my organizational skills and taught me how to excel under pressure while managing intense workloads. Both positions require good interpersonal skills; very good computer skills and the ability to think on your feet/outside the box. I take great pride in the fact that I completed my LLB while being employed full-time. This was not an easy task, and it is testimony to my diligence, commitment, and work ethic. I was admitted as an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa on 17th February 2023.

TIHOMIR (TIG) ANDRIN

Post Matric, Tig Andrin acquired his National Diploma in Business Management (Damelin), after which he proceeded in obtaining his Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) through De Montfort University, Leicester, UK, and is currently as a part of personal improvement in the process of completing his Certificate in Arbitration through the Association of Arbitrators South Africa (Aarb 3191), as well as an LLB degree at UNISA (University of South Africa). Tig is a registered Business Rescue and Business Turnaround Practitioner, accredited by SARIPA, CIPC and SAQA, as well as a Registered mediator registered with ADR Network SA.



Throughout his career over the last thirty years, Tig has acquired all-round business expertise within business sectors such as, corporate real estate asset management,financial management, operations management, forecasting, strategic management,sales and marketing management, hands on, “on the floor’’ manufacturing managementas well as project management and of late the introduction of the legal element to his skills set. His professional and ethical approach as well as the ability to apply his hands-on business management acumen has rendered successful results throughout his career for his clients and peers alike, for which he earned great loyalty and respect. Hisinterpersonal communication abilities have also proven to be highly advantageous withinthe human resources management arena crossing different cultures at all levels, as well as the continuous promotion of further education and upskilling of staff members within his own operations.

Tig is an energetic and objective participant in his business dealings and decision making. He continuously strives to deliver gainful results to ensure his clients objectivesare met.

adri kleinhans

As a Debt Counsellor with 14 years of experience, Adri Kleinhans has had great results in terms of successful negotiations with Creditors on behalf of clients who are stressed or anxious about their financial situation. She also gives emotional support to clients and support clients with court proceedings.


As a Debt Advisor and Mediator, she works closely with clients struggling to pay off debts and finds ways to repay debt affordably and provides advice on dealing with the impact of debt. Her dedication to her work is of high effort, she believes everybody deserves good financial health.



Adri Kleinhans is a registered Debt Counsellor from 2009 and a member of DCASA (Debt Counsellors Association of South Africa). She also provides accounting services to attorneys. She has brought successful applications to the High Court to reinstate Bond accounts under debt review. She completed her Mediation Course and is a member of the ADR Network SA.


Aside from loving her job, she loves drinking coffee, listening to music, and reading. Being with nature gives her a sense of beautiful peace.


tracy jean-pierre

For the past 25 years I have been actively involved in addressing gender-based violence and femicide in South Africa in a holistic way – as a feminist and activist, and in my work capacity. This has included being part of community and non-governmental organisations, working in a local context, influencing strategy and policy, organizing and supporting and taking to the streets when needed. In my work capacity, as the founder and director of a successful social enterprise and later as the Programme Director for a not for profit organisation I have designed and facilitated accredited training programmes to engage with the justice system (law enforcement and the legal system) to influence the system and how it responds to GBVF.

I have also worked with the South African Police Force, the Departments of Health and Social Welfare, the Department of Justice on the intersection between GBVF and HIV – providing training to doctors, nurses and social workers on National instructions and best practise. I have been involved in country wide impact studies on HIV. Examples of work may be found here: here: https://independent.academia.edu/TracyJeanPierre

My work and personal contribution has been recognised in South Africa and globally. I am the recipient different awards including:

- The Mail and Guardian Investing in Life Award: JHB, South Africa

- Cosmopolitan Mover: South Africa

- Cisco Systems social enterprise award: USA and South Africa

- Top new media mogul: New York


I am a PhD candidate in the field of gender and development


For more information or questions about our accredited panel members, or if you’d like to join the panel yourself, please contact us at panel@adr-networksa.co.za


services

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Divorce Mediation


Mediation is able to provide a private, non-adversarial, reverent platform for divorcing parties to settle all aspects of their divorce dispute including division of property, financial consequences and arrangements regarding children.

Understanding that families experience divorce as one of the greatest life traumas, the restorative justice-informed mediated divorce can position parties to hold necessary tough conversations in respectful and non harmful ways and help parties to reformulate their families for effective co-operative parenting beyond divorce, where minor children are involved.

These processes are adaptable and resilient and can be conducted online via private webinar platforms.


Commercial Mediation and Arbitration


Commercial mediation taught and practiced from the perspective of restorative justice holds many gains for parties amidst commercial conflict including the ability to have the toughest conversations in the most respectful of terms which may help to bridge impossible divides. Parties save time, money and overall well-being has a better shot of preservation.

Arbitration is taught and practiced by us through a restorative lens, so whilst it is an adjudicate processes we teach our arbitrators inquisitorial styles and restorative outcomes where possible. We understand that the high point of justice is that everyone has what they need and this is how we practice and teach all ADR methods.

Labour and Employment Mediation and Arbitration


South Africa has one of the best examples of the application of ADR in Labour and Workplace in disputes via the CCMA. At ADR Network South Africa, we go a little further and we teach and practice specifically restorative responses in labour and workplace mediation and arbitration.

This does not always mean that the relationship is reconciled but it does mean there are far less expulsions and exclusions and/or other punitive outcomes and protracted labour disputes that may affect the whole of the business or the whole of the individual lives involved.


Labour and Employment Mediation and Arbitration


South Africa has one of the best examples of the application of ADR in Labour and Workplace in disputes via the CCMA. At ADR Network South Africa, we go a little further and we teach and practice specifically restorative responses in labour and workplace mediation and arbitration.

This does not always mean that the relationship is reconciled but it does mean there are far less expulsions and exclusions and/or other punitive outcomes and protracted labour disputes that may affect the whole of the business or the whole of the individual lives involved.


Chairing of Dismissal Processes


This is a commonly used form of ADR in which someone is appointed to adjudicate on charges brought against an employee.

We offer training in the skills required to chair such processes as well as the skills needed to identify potential to mediate outcomes and introduce restorative results. This may help prevent some of the social problems associated with discipline-related suspensions and exclusions from the workplace that may serve to perpetuate destructive cycles.


Medical Negligence Mediation and Arbitration


Medical Negligence or medical injury claims are widespread and are generally dealt with through litigious processes which can compound the trauma for the victim and those around them in addition to making medical professionals fearful and defensive in their practices.

Restorative justice-informed approaches to these matters via mediation and/ or arbitration can offer more efficient, less traumatic and economically debilitating solutions and ones that carry far greater reparative outcomes.


Chairing of High Conflict Board Meetings, Bodies Corporate Meetings, AGMs and Dialogue Processes


Chairing of High Conflict Board Meetings, Bodies Corporate Meetings, AGMs and Dialogue Processes:

Appointing a highly skilled mediator, especially with depth of understanding in restorative justice, can save time, money and business, community and institutional relationships.

Many of us resent meetings precisely because we doubt their efficacy. A mediator can help set and accomplish goals for meetings and can lead the way in having the toughest of discussions in deeply respectful terms.


Restorative Justice in Schools, Workplaces and Criminal Matters


ADR Network South Africa has taught, practiced and promoted the shift from punitive thinking to restorative thinking across society for over a decade. We teach, practice and promote these methods in various areas notably schools, workplaces and criminal matters. Through victim centric restorative processes, we have aided victims to healing, restoration and protection in sexual violence, personal injury, medical injury and hate crimes. Through these processes many perpetrators have been restored in ways vital for the overall wellbeing of society.


Restorative Justice in Schools, Workplaces and Criminal Matters


ADR Network South Africa has taught, practiced and promoted the shift from punitive thinking to restorative thinking across society for over a decade. We teach, practice and promote these methods in various areas notably schools, workplaces and criminal matters. Through victim centric restorative processes, we have aided victims to healing, restoration and protection in sexual violence, personal injury, medical injury and hate crimes. Through these processes many perpetrators have been restored in ways vital for the overall wellbeing of society.


Property and Land Disputes


Restorative justice-informed mediation and arbitration can bring resolution to land and property disputes in restorative ways aimed at ensuring that each party comes away with what they need in the circumstances. This kind of dispute can be life disrupting, life altering and life suspending. Highly skilled and qualified restorativists can help to ensure true justice and fairness in less adversarial, less cumbersome and less expensive processes. We teach, practice and advocate for these methods of dispute resolution.


Victim-centric and child-centric Restorative Justice


This approach to achieving justice where the victim is centred and an inquisitive process is conducted into how to repair the harm inflicted upon him, her or them in the form of reparations, restorative measures and arrangements for their protection.

In criminal justice the victim is merely a witness to the process, which is not for his, her or their restoration or reparation but is a process designed to establish facts and determine whether and how and accused should be punished. In the process, the victim is generally revictimized through attempts to robustly and often brutally challenge his, her or their credibility.

A restorative process starts with ‘we believe you’ whereas criminal justice starts with ‘why should we believe you’ or ‘how can we possibly believe you’.

Victim-Centric Restorative justice offers the victim the potential for respect, reparation, emotional discharge in a protected environment and potential for participation at an appropriate level and taking the individual victim’s needs into account.


Preparation of witness statements and watching briefs on behalf of victims in criminal processes


Victim centric restorative justice processes centre around the needs and interests of victims. Where a victim is a witness in criminal proceedings we can aid them by assisting in taking their statements through a trauma informed process and performing watching briefs through the process to guard their rights and wellbeing.


Preparation of witness statements and watching briefs on behalf of victims in criminal processes


Victim centric restorative justice processes centre around the needs and interests of victims. Where a victim is a witness in criminal proceedings we can aid them by assisting in taking their statements through a trauma informed process and performing watching briefs through the process to guard their rights and wellbeing.


training

ADR Network SA (Pty) LTD offers expert training in mediation and arbitration that has been developed over the past 16 years and is continually updated and benchmarked against best practice and emerging ideas and ideology in ADR and Restorative Justice. Trainees and panelists enjoy ongoing support and engagement via practice development workshops, networking events, invitations to conferences, access to articles and the like.

It is recognized by the Department of Justice (for purpose of accreditation of individual court annexed mediators), SA Medico Legal Association (for accreditation of Medico-Legal mediators) and is accredited with ADR Register International (applicable to 164 countries including South Africa) for Mediation Training and CPD.

Five Day Mediation Training

Course Outline


Day 1 : An overview of ADR Systems;

Introduction to Restorative Justice;

Theory of Conflict Resolution

The Universal Pattern of Order/Disorder or Chaos/Re-Order and the Mediator’s role

Paideia and lifelong deep learning for Mediators


Day 2: Mediation: theory, the process and ethics;

Court annexed mediation: the published rules, norms and standards and practical assignment; Role Play practice


Day 3: The Mediation Space and the Mediator Stance

Court Annexed Mediation, Rule 41 and other Statutory Systems

Role Plays and Practical Work


Day 4: ADR and the 4 th Industrial Revolution

ADR Practice

Therapeutic Jurisprudence

Role Plays


Day 5: Role Play assessments; presentation of assignments, storytelling circle; certification ceremony

Course Structure


Certification:

The five day program results in certification in general mediation.


Cost


Training Fee: R 13 750 (in person workshop) or Zoom Training R 6 850

*All 5 day training runs on zoom for now and is at a discounted R 6 850

*Monthly payment options available


FACILITATING COMPLEX DIALOGUE

(Advanced Certificate in mediation)


Course Outline


Week 1: The neurophysiology and morality of politics and political conflict


Week 2: How to discuss the various intersecting oppressions including racism, sexism and ablism


Week 3: How to discuss vaccine mandates and related matters and other extremely polarizing issues


Week 4: Designing and organizing difficult and complex dialogues (part 1)


Week 5: Designing and organizing difficult and complex dialogues (part 2)


Week 6: Transactional and policy-setting mediation and opportunities in practice



Course Structure


Compulsory attendance of a three hour seminar every alternative Wednesday for 6 sessions

Prescribed Material: ADR Network SA Manual on FACILITATING COMPLEX DIALOGUE 2022

Recommended Reading: Politics, Dialogue and Democracy, Kenneth Cloke


Cost


R 9 999 (or R 4 999 for registered panellists)

Monthly payment option: R 3 500 x 3 or R 1 750 x 6

Monthly payment option for panellists: R 1750 x 3 or R 875 x 6


FACILITATING VICTIM CENTRIC RESTORATIVE JUSTICE RESPONSES TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE,

SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND YOUTH VIOLENCE

(Advanced Certificate in mediation)



Course Outline


Week 1: The neurophysiology and morality of politics and political conflict


Week 2: How to discuss the various intersecting oppressions including racism, sexism and ablism


Week 3: How to discuss vaccine mandates and related matters and other extremely polarizing issues


Week 4: Designing and organizing difficult and complex dialogues (part 1)


Week 5: Designing and organizing difficult and complex dialogues (part 2)


Week 6: Transactional and policy-setting mediation and opportunities in practice


Course Structure


Compulsory attendance of a three hour seminar every alternative Wednesday for 6 sessions

Prescribed Material: ADR Network SA Manual on FACILITATING COMPLEX DIALOGUE 2022

Recommended Reading: Politics, Dialogue and Democracy, Kenneth Cloke



Cost


R 9 999 (or R 4 999 for registered panellists)

Monthly payment option: R 3 500 x 3 or R 1 750 x 6

Monthly payment option for panellists: R 1750 x 3 or R 875 x 6

GEOPOLITICAL CONFLICT RESOLUTION

(Advanced Certificate in mediation)


Course Outline


Week 1: Introduction to Geopolitical Conflict Resolution


Week 2: Global Governance-international relations and global politics


Week 3: Ukraine, Russia, NATO and Imperialism


Week 4: The displacement of human beings and the complexities of borders


Week 5: Transnational Peacebuilding and strengthening those efforts


Week 6: Getting involved in and positioning the mediator for geopolitical conflict resolution and transnational peacebuilding



Course Structure


Compulsory attendance of a three hour seminar every Wednesday for 6 sessions

Prescribed Material: ADR Network SA Manual on GEOPOLITICAL CONFLICT RESOLUTION 2022

Recommended Reading: Politics, Dialogue and Democracy, Kenneth Cloke

Restorative Justice, Policies ad Prospects, Van Der Spuy et al

Creating Freedom, Raoul Martinez


Cost


R 9 999 (or R 4 999 for registered panellists)


Monthly payment option: R 3 500 x 3 or R 1 750 x 6

Monthly payment option for panellists: R 1750 x 3 or R 875 x 6


Add on Accreditation with ADR Register International for International Accreditation

(This is a negotiated fee specific to this program)

Audit fee: R 1300 (instead of the normal R 2000) This is a once off fee

Annual fee: R 600 (instead of the normal R 975) I will need to negotiate a discount annually but your first annual fee as part of this program is R 600.


This application is done direct with them and I will provide written confirmation of your panel membership with us and your registration on this program.


Online Short Training Programmes


Cost


Any of the Training Units or Elective areas can be undertaken as a short program at R 3450 by distance or 2021 R 1750.

Panellists pay only 50% ie R 875 per short program. See schedule below

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAM


Course Outline


Students must complete assignments in four Training Units and an oral assessment.


  1. Conflict Resolution and restorative justice
  2. Mediation (incl court annexed mediation)
  3. Arbitration
  4. Elective unit: Choose from workplace/commercial/ family and divorce/restorative justice in schools/credit dispute resolution/ sport disputes/ ADR human rights/ Insurance/ Sectional Title/ADR Medical Negligence



Course Structure


Trainees have twelve months to complete but the program may be fast tracked over 6 weeks or three months.

Trainees who wish to apply to be accredited for court annexed mediation can make up 40 hours contact time via

attendance at five day workshops or attendance via skype by prior arrangement.




Cost


R 3 450

(in advance of each of the four parts or R 11 999 for the whole program upfront.)


RESTORATIVE JUSTICE DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAM


Course Outline


Students must complete assignments in four Training Units and an oral assessment.


1. Introduction to Restorative Justice and Restorative Problem Solving

2. Restorative Justice Processes-victim/offender dialogue in criminal matters, family group conferencing in family

matters, restorative circles, dialogue processes

3. Specific applications-schools, workplace and community

4. Restorative Justice and Personal Injury-Hate Crimes, Medical Negligence and Personal Injury generally


Course Structure


Trainees have twelve months to complete but the program may be fast tracked over 6 weeks or three months.

Trainees who wish to apply to be accredited for court annexed mediation can make up 40 hours contact time via

attendance at five day workshops or attendance via skype by prior arrangement.




Cost


R 3 450

(in advance of each of the four parts or R 11 999 for the whole program upfront.)


conditions for all:

Course presented in English

Matriculant unless exemption applied for

No refunds but replacement trainees accepted



Provincial Divisions

ADR Network SA Eastern Cape


ADR Network SA Eastern Cape is run by licensed operator, Advocate Nceba Kidwell Mfaxa.

Advocate Mfaxa matriculated at Vuli Valley Senior Secondary in 1988.


He completed his B. Juris in 1995 and then his LLB in 2013 at the University of Fort Hare.


He holds further Certificates in Labour Relations and Incident Investigation of Workplace Injuries and Diseases. He hes also completed PSIRA Certificate courses in Grade B, C D and E.


Prior to becoming admitted as an advocate and joining the National Bar Council of SA, he worked in and gained extensive experience in the Financial Services industry as a Financial Advisor and later as a Medical Aid and Financial Advisor. He has also worked as the Provincial organiser with the South African Municipal Workers Union for the past 8 years.


Over the past year he has become certified and accredited with ADR Network SA in Mediation including Divorce, Commercial, Personal Injury, Medical Negligence and Road Accident.


He has decided to turn his attention and expertise to ADR and as such is available in the Eastern Cape and by virtual process.


You can contact him on kidwell@adr-networkeasterncape.co.za.


If he cannot assist you personally, he is able to refer you to other able ADR Network SA panellists in the Eastern Cape.

ADR Network SA Limpopo


ADR Network SA Limpopo has been running for 6 years and offers expert services and training in Mediation, Arbitration and other aspects of Alternative Dispute Resolution. It is licensed to offer the accredited training of ADR Network SA. All trainees are certified and/or accredited by ADR Network SA.

ADR Network SA training is, in turn accredited by ADR Register on the international ISO standard for 164 countries. It is also formally recognised by the South African Medico Legal Association and has supported the accreditation of Mediators with the Department of Justice.

ADR Network SA Limpopo is run by Mpho Mdingi

Mpho is a senior mediator and trainer on the national panel of ADR network SA. She holds qualifications in inter alia para-legal studies, assessor, life couching and heads up ADR Network SA’s division is debtor and creditor dispute resolution. She holds various accolades and awards in business including Standard Bank Business Woman of the year. She has been a key figure in promoting court annexed mediation on behalf of ADR Network SA and has been a significant role player in developing the DOJ’s initiative in 100 Days of Divorce Mediation and 120 Days of Divorce Mediation.


ADR Network SA Gauteng


ADR Network SA Gauteng offers mediation and ADR Training as well as Mediation and Arbitration Services in Gauteng.

Established and operated under license to ADR Network SA since 2020, Raeesa Rhemtula and Yaseen Suliman are at the helm. Raeesa and Yaseen both serve on the national panel of ADR Network SA as mediators and arbitrators.

Yaseen Suliman has been involved in Meditations/Arbitrations in finance, Islamic finance, Islamic domestic dispute resolutions. He is an ADR Network SA-trained mediator and arbitrator and s member of our panel If you have any questions or would like more information, please visit our website or get in touch with us. To get in touch with Yaseen please email panel@adr-Networksa.co.za For more information or questions about our accredited panel members, please visit our website or get in touch with us — www.adr-networksa.co.za | gauteng@adr-networksa.co.za

Raeesa Rhemtula is a practicing attorney with additional training in Corporate Law and Labour law. She had also trained with ADR NETWORK SA as a mediator and arbitrator with specialization in family, personal injury and commercial disputes. We are proud to welcome her onto our panel. For more information or questions about our accredited panel members, please visit our website or get in touch with us — www.adr-networksa.co.za | gauteng@adr-networksa.co.za


ADR network SA has been offering mediation and arbitration training for over a decade. It’s mediation training is accredited by ADR Register on the international ISO standard for 164 countries. It’s mediation training is also recognised by the South African Medico Legal Association and has supported accreditation of Mediators with the Department of Justice.

Frequently Asked QUestions

Why is Mediation Important?


This is the top most asked question on google relating to mediation.


Litigation and adversarial problem solving processes in schools and the workplace foster alienation and separation. On this basis they have the potential to worsen the problem.


Mediation is a process through which we can co-create solutions that serve each party’s needs. Litigation should be used as an absolutely last resort on the basis that it is high cost, high risk (no outcome is guaranteed) and it can further damage the lives of all involved, including the one who ‘wins’ in the end.


Mediation fosters much higher agency in the participants as opposed to adversarial processes which are really very low agency processes.


One of the most important features of mediation is that, if properly done, it is far more supportive of truth telling than litigated or other adversarial processes which tend to be antithetical to truth telling and rather foster denialism.


Adversarial processes are really designed for outcome. In other words, the matter is concluded on the basis that someone wins and someone loses. This is not supportive of actual problem solving.


So in considering whether we are going to litigate or mediate, we should ask ourselves whether we want to solve the problem or whether we are happy to chance an enormous amount of financial and personal resources just to achieve a result understanding that whether win oose may be completely arbitrary in that in litigation it is possible to win when we are wrong and lose when we are right.


Can I mediate with a Narcissist?


This is the second most asked question on google right now. There are three things I wish to address:


  1. We live in very narcissistic culture right now.

Western adversarialism is hyper-individualised culture. Its us against them, you against me and we are trained in competing with one another to get ahead. This will naturally elevate narcissistic characteristics in many of us.

  1. In conflict, many of us exhibit narcissistic characteristics

In high conflict, we can become anxious and afraid and when we are anxious and afraid we can be our worst selves. We may become very self-focused and closed-minded and closed-hearted. Good mediators can deal with this very well and may bring about deep transformation by bringing parties awareness to ways they may be acting out in self-focused ways that may be destructive or harmful to themselves, the other person or the potential for resolution.


  1. We must distinguish between narcissistic characteristics and narcissism as an actual pathology

Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder may be abusive and/or violent. Mediators that specialise in process design, power relations with an ability to read excesses/deficiencies in power and to deal with abuses in power are well able to design and manage processes that take into account that one or more of the parties has this pathology. This is often the case in matters comprising domestic violence or sexual violence. It is recommended that specially trained and experienced mediators are sought out in these types of matters. Classic facilitative mediation may lead to harmful outcomes. If you are looking for a mediator equipped in the skills and experience to deal with such matters, please get in touch with us


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Contact us

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training@adr-networksa.co.za

Durban, South Africa