Our Team

“Tshego” is an accomplished public interest lawyer with over 10 years’ experience in public interest litigation. Holding a Bachelor of Arts and LLB degree from the University of Witwatersrand, Tshego practised as an attorney in the Pro Bono Department at Webber Wentzel Attorneys between 2011 and 2016 and was appointed as a partner in 2017.

Keen to embed herself in movement lawyering, she joined the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) in February 2019 leading their Sexual Rights Litigation in Africa. She is also a 2020/21 Fellow of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for young African leaders and is currently the Chairperson of the board of the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities in South Africa.

In the course of her practice, Tshego was part of a number of landmark cases that advanced the rule of law and constitutional democracy in South Africa, as well as the protection and advancement of the rights of LGBTQI persons (with particular focus on LGBTQI youth, transgender and intersex persons).

Tshego has a passion for human rights and the protection of vulnerable and marginalised persons and communities in society. She believes that movement-led lawyering and community lawyering can contribute positively to bringing about social change and the legal empowerment of marginalised voices.”

Mufaro Dean Magidi, PhD, brings over a decade of hands-on experience in financial management, operational oversight, and organisational leadership within the non-profit sector.

Mufaro has played key roles in supporting strategic direction and ensuring financial and operational processes align with statutory requirements and organisational objectives.

His work is driven by a strong passion for social justice, and he has dedicated his career to advancing equality and improving access for underserved communities. This commitment is reflected in the leadership roles he has held across various social justice organisations, where he has consistently contributed to impactful change.

Chandre obtained her BA (Law) degree from Stellenbosch University in 2009, and completed her post-graduate LLB degree in 2011 at the same university. In 2011, Chandre was a student researcher in the South African Property Law Research Chair headed by Professor AJ van der Walt, focusing on Constitutional Property Law, and in particular Section 25 of the Constitution. In addition, she was involved in the Financial Literacy Project of the University’s Legal Aid Clinic.

Chandre completed her training at Shepstone & Wylie, Cape Town, 2012 to 2014, where she worked in, among others, in the Corporate & Commercial as well as the International Transport, Trade & Energy, Departments. Chandre was admitted and enrolled as an attorney in the Western Cape High Court and has obtained Right of Appearance in the Western Cape High Court, in May and October 2014, respectively.

Chandre joined the EELC in 2014 and is a passionate social justice lawyer with a drive to use the law as a tool for social justice and for equality in education. Chandre is particularly interested in the advancement of the rights of children with disabilities, and who are experiencing barriers to learning, and focuses her practice on ensuring that their right to an equitable and quality inclusive education system, is realized.

Tarryn obtained both her Bachelor of Science degree as well as her LLB from Rhodes University. She thereafter completed her training as a candidate attorney at the Rhodes University Law Clinic where she was involved in general litigation and various other access to justice programmes.

After her admission in 2012 she was employed as an associate at the Boksburg based law firm of Malherbe, Rigg & Ranwell Attorneys where she specialised in municipal law. The call towards human rights and social justice however inspired her return to the Rhodes University Law Clinic as an attorney in charge of the advice office programme in early 2014 where she furthered the Law Clinic’s work in the human rights field.

She thereafter progressed through the ranks to head of legal services for the Grahamstown office and member of the Rhodes University Law Clinic management committee. As an attorney at the Law Clinic, Tarryn was involved in general litigation, LLB student supervision and lecturing of various modules in the LLB Legal Practice course.

Tarryn joined the EELC in April 2017 to contribute towards the fight for social justice and equal, quality education for all on a national level.

Anjuli joins the EELC as a senior attorney. Prior to this she worked at the Centre for Child Law (CCL) and Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR). At CCL, where she worked for four years, she focused on litigation, having worked on a variety of cases related to children’s access to socio-economic rights, including their access to basic and higher education as well as birth registration. At LHR, where she worked for five years, she managed the Johannesburg law clinic, and focused on litigation related to refugee and migrants’ rights.

In 2020 she obtained her LLM in children’s rights at the University of Pretoria. At EELC she focusses on undocumented children’s rights to education, migrant and stateless children’s rights to education, school-related violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, and access to education for girl children.

Pila-sande is from East London in the Eastern Cape. She completed her Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of Fort Hare in 2017. She was awarded the Canon Collins Leigh-Day Scholarship and in 2018 received the Dean of Research Exceptional Achievement Award.

Pila-sande has been active in social justice work, including forming part of the steering committee of the East London #TheTotalShutdown and the HIV Policy Conference. As a student, she served as the Secretary of the Indlovukazi Women Empowerment Society and she is currently the chairperson of Passionate Unlimited Peers in Action (PUPA) based in the Eastern Cape. She has also served under the Eastern Cape Aids Council Women’s Sector and the NACOSA Provincial Advisory Committee. Pila-Sande completed her articles at the EELC as a Bertha Justice Fellow

Yasmina Shabodien joined the EELC in March 2019 in the role of Office Administrator.  Yasmina is from Cape Town and has worked in the non-profit sector for over twenty years in an administrative capacity.  Prior to joining the EELC, she has worked for Kagiso Trust, Impumelelo Social Innovations Programme and Black Sash.   Her portfolio includes financial administration, events management and office administration amongst others.  Working for these various organisations has strengthened her commitment and passion to improve social development, social justice and equality within marginalised communities.

Innocentia holds an LLB degree from UNISA and a degree in International Relations and Development Studies from the University of Pretoria.

She previously worked with the Child Rights Network for Southern Africa (CRNSA), a regional representative of children’s rights networks in the SADC region. In this role, she collaborated with national child rights networks and engaged with regional and international bodies, including the UN, AU and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC). Her work focused on strengthening child rights governance, supporting policy reforms and promoting child participation in decision-making processes.

She has worked closely with 11 network members across Southern Africa to enhance child welfare frameworks, advocate for improved safeguarding policies and drive accountability in child protection systems.

Ebrahiem is an Admitted Attorney of the High Court, holding an LLB (Cum Laude) from the University of the Western Cape, and trained in Civil Mediation by the Law Society of South Africa. He joined the EELC initially as a Candidate Attorney through the Bertha Justice Fellowship Programme.

Whilst a student, he served as Chairperson of an independent student-led non-profit organization called the Chamber of Legal Students, comprising law students who represented high school learners and university students in disciplinary hearings, as well as assisting university students with academic exclusion appeals so that they could continue their studies.

Ebrahiem served on the founding Steering Committee of the National Youth Coalition, a youth-led coalition promoting the development of ethical and transformative young leaders across South Africa. He currently serves on the Executive of multiple organisations including the South African Education Law Association, MI Centre and South African Police Services Community Police Forum.

Ebrahiem’s practice at EELC has been focused on school discipline, privatisation, infrastructure, governance, learners with disabilities, empowerment workshops and addressing corruption and financial mismanagement. Beyond education law, his interests include advocating for socio-economic rights more broadly, in particular how they intersect with employment law, municipal law, competition law, data privacy and protection and international law.

Ebrahiem believes in legal education beyond the courtroom and is committed to ensuring that communities have accessible legal knowledge to understand and assert their rights effectively.

Daniel joined the EELC as a Candidate Attorney through the Bertha Justice Fellowship programme and was admitted as an Attorney in 2024. He holds a BCom and LLB (cum laude) from the University of the Witwatersrand and an LLM in Public International Law (cum laude) from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Before joining the EELC, Daniel served as the Regional Safeguarding Officer for Southern Africa at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). He is deeply passionate about promoting education equality for neurodiverse, refugee, asylum-seeker, and LGBT+ learners. In 2025, Daniel transitioned into the role of Junior Researcher at the EELC

Hope Mokadi is a Candidate Attorney at the EELC. She holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree and an LLB from the University of the Witwatersrand, where she was involved in societies such as the Wits History Makers and the Student Society for Civic Engagement at Wits in which she served as a chairperson.

She was also a Global Fellow Representative at Wits for the Open Society University Network (OSUN) based at Bard College, New York. In the programme she played the role of assisting young leaders to develop and sustain their community projects in their respective communities and encouraging active citizenship and community engagement throughout the University.

Prior to joining the EELC, Hope worked as a school social worker for the Centre for Social Development in Africa on the Community of Practices for Social Systems strengthening to improve Child-wellbeing Project.

Hope is fueled by a deep passion to empower vulnerable and marginalised groups to claim their rights. Hope is especially passionate about the promotion and protection of young children’s right to ECD.

Samukelisiwe Msane, a recent LLB graduate from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, is a passionate social justice activist and Candidate Attorney at the EELC.

She began her activism journey in 2024 with an internship at SECTION27, alongside completing the ASRI Municipal Oversight & Accountability Programme. Sam has always been dedicated to empowering underprivileged communities, volunteering at the Denise Hurley Centre to educate the homeless about their rights and advocating for their needs. As a member of ENACTUS, she organised a donation of sanitary pads from the North Beach and South Beach Taxi Association. Sam also contributed as a peer educator at the University of KwaZulu-Natal HIV/AIDS Support Unit (CHASU).

Outside of her professional work, Sam enjoys nature walks, hiking, and watching documentaries, always driven by the belief that “one person can make a meaningful difference in the world.”

Katherine Sutherland holds a LLB (2020) and a Bachelor of Social Sciences (2015) degree from the University of Cape Town (UCT). She has worked in the civil society sector as a researcher and in grassroots community engagement for over three years. Katherine is a Canon Collins Sol Plaatje scholar and is doing her LLM in Public Law by dissertation at UCT on the topic of the increasing privatisation of public services, specifically in the basic education sector, and how to hold private actors who perform public services accountable through administrative and constitutional law.

She hopes to strengthen and inform South Africa’s regulation of the private sector and ensure that human, and specifically children’s rights, are upheld and protected in an increasingly privatised world.

Jay-Dee Booysen is the Media and Communications Specialist at the EELC, where she leads all communication and visibility initiatives. She earned her LLB in 2015 from the University of the Western Cape, followed by an Honours degree in Journalism from Stellenbosch University in 2016.

Before her work in the civil society sector, Jay-Dee gained valuable experience as a journalist at the community newspaper TygerBurger. With six years in civil society, she previously served as the Communications Officer and then Communications Manager at Equal Education. Driven by a passion for leveraging communications to advocate for children’s rights to education, Jay-Dee is committed to showcasing the transformative power of storytelling in the pursuit of justice.

Vuyolwethu Tswelekile is an Access to justice legal support intern at the EELC. He is an aspiring public interest advocate with a keen focus in educational reform in South Africa. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Nelson Mandela University and has gained significant experience in the advocacy landscape, especially through his early involvement with Equal Education (EE).

Vuyolwethu was an Equaliser (learner member of EE)  and played a key role in advocating for improved school infrastructure, demonstrating his leadership abilities. He helped mobilise communities to address issues relating to education access and equity.

Driven by a passion for youth activism and a commitment to empowering marginalised communities through education, Vuyolwethu set his sights on contributing to systemic change at the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC).

His dedication led him to pursue an internship at EELC, where he is now honing his skills in movement lawyering. With a deep love for social justice, he is committed to tackling inequalities in education that impact vulnerable communities, using legal advocacy as a tool.

His work at the EELC, combined with his grassroots activism, serves as a testament to his vision of contributing to progressive solutions in education and human rights.

Sith’enkosi James is an LLB graduate from the University of Fort Hare and an intern at the EELC. She joined the EELC in February 2025 through the Cannon Collins – Joel Joffe scholarship. Additionally, Sith’enkosi is pursuing a Master’s degree in Human Rights Protection at the University of the Western Cape.

Driven by a passion to assist those who face academic barriers or lack knowledge in legal matters, she is committed to using her legal career to restore public confidence in the South African justice system. Sith’enkosi believes that law provides the ideal platform for creating the positive change she aspires to see in society.