About Us

Karabo is a senior attorney and the Director of the Centre for Child Law. Karabo is also a lecturer in the Department of Private Law at the University of Pretoria. She lectures undergraduate and post graduate courses in child law, social welfare law, education law, children’s rights in Africa as well as human rights.

She obtained her LLB and LLM in Child Law (cum laude), as well as a Certificate in Advanced Labour Law from the University of Pretoria. She started her legal career as a candidate attorney at the University of Pretoria’s Law Clinic in 2005 and later joined the Centre for Child Law in 2007.

Karabo has led and contributed to the work of the Centre, including litigation successes in the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court of Appeal and High Courts. Karabo is a member of the Advisory Committee of the South African Law Reform Commission’s Project 100D on care and contact with children. She is also a member of the Hague Expert Group on International Parentage and Surrogacy which is tasked with researching the possibility of a Hague treaty to regulate international parentage and surrogacy. Karabo also served as an independent board member and the National Chairperson of Childline South Africa from 2009 until September 2016. She was a member of the Rules Board‘s Children’s Court Task Team whose mandate was to draft court rules for the Children’s Courts in South Africa. Karabo has led and also been part of various research projects for the National Department of Social Development, Save the Children South Africa and Regional as well as the United Nations Populations Fund-East and Southern Africa.

Pontso joined the Centre in 2014 as the Administrator. In addition to carrying out administrative tasks, Pontso also manages the Centre’s finances (with the support of a Faculty accountant) and ensures that the Centre complies with the Accounting requirements and processes. Pontso has a background in finance and manages the budgeting, cash flow, financial reports and HR processes.

Liesl Muller is a senior attorney with more than ten years litigation experience. She joined the Centre for Child Law in January 2022. Liesl was previously the head of the Statelessness Project at Lawyers for Human Rights, one of the only projects of its kind in South Africa and the region. Liesl drove strategic litigation about changing laws which continue to entrench statelessness.

Furthermore, Liesl has been a contributory author to numerous submissions to various international and regional treaty bodies, including the UN Human Rights Council and the African Committee of the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Liesl has also presented cases to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Liesl has two Masters’ degrees cum laude, one from the University of the Witwatersrand, and recently a second in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa from the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria. Her areas of interest include African nationality law and rights, child rights approaches to litigation and environmental justice for children.

Stanley completed his LLB in 2015 at the University of Johannesburg and in the same year he was part of the winning team of the 6th annual Child Law Moot Court competition. In 2016, Stanley joined the Centre for Child Law as Candidate Attorney and upon completion, joined the Centre for Applied Legal Studies’ Right2Protest Project as an Attorney. He holds an LLM degree in Child Law from the University of Pretoria, with a distinction for his mini-dissertation. Stanley also holds a postgraduate diploma in Human Rights Advocacy and Litigation from the Nelson Mandela Institute, University of Witwatersrand. In 2020 He was nominated into the Mail & Guardian 200 most outstanding young South Africans. Stanley is a sessional lecturer in Jurisprudence at the Witwatersrand University. He am a steering committee member of the Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network Fund. Stanley is a published writer in the field of the right to peaceful assembly/ protest and also served as a member of the National Working Group of the Right2Know Campaign.

Moyahabo is a Candidate Attorney at the Centre for Child Law whose tasks include assisting in strategic litigation, drafting documents, liaising with clients, assisting in preparations for court appearances and conducting research on Child Law related matters. Moyahabo obtained her LLB and LLM in Human Rights and Democratization from the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria. She previously served as an intern with the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and as a Research Assistant with the Centre for Human Rights’ Disability Rights Unit and to the Institute of International Comparative Law in Africa. Her legal interests include the rights of women, children, persons with disabilities as well as the relationship between hierarchy and state accountability in public international law. Moyahabo is currently completing Practical Legal Training with the Legal Practice Council in pursuit of admission as an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.

Fortunate is a Candidate Attorney at the Centre for Child Law whose tasks include assisting in strategic litigation, drafting documents, liaising with clients, assisting in preparation for court appearances and conducting research on child related matters. Fortunate obtained his Paralegal Certificate from Boston City Campus and Business College. He also obtained his LLB degree from the North-West University and recently completed his LLM from the same University specialising in International Child Law. Fortunate’s dissertation focused on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Street Children (Children in the Street Situation) where he argues that existing legislation needs be amended so as to be inclusive of children in the street situation and the need for development of policy which favour these children in order for the State to adequately address this plight in South Africa. His legal interests include child and family law, customary law, civil and political and socio-economic rights, and the relationship between States in relation to the protection and promotion of children’s rights.

Lebohang Dube joined the Centre for Child Law as a Candidate Attorney in April 2022. Their work entails participating in strategic impact litigation; legal drafting; liaising with clients; preparation for court appearances; advocacy and communications work and researching child-related matters.

Lebohang obtained their LLB degree from the University of the Free State and is currently pursuing their LLM through coursework at the Univerity of Pretoria in the Environmental Law Programme. Lebo’s Master’s research seeks to contribute to arguments on the need to develop an African customary environmental law jurisprudence. Lebo does this by unpacking the South African environmental policy and legal framework and consulting indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and argues for the integration of IKS as a fundamental component towards climate justice in South Africa. Lebo’s legal interests include protecting and advancing children’s rights; the development of child law in Africa; climate justice and customary law concerning children’s rights; socio-economic rights and transformative constitutionalism.

Lebohang has experience as an activist in the civil society sector as demonstrated by his involvement and work with organisations seeking to advance sexual and reproductive rights, environmental and climate justice, socio-economic rights and children’s rights.

Prof Elsabe Schoeman is the Chairperson of the Centre’s Advisory Board and the Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria. Her main areas of research are jurisdiction in cross-border civil and commercial litigation and choice of law in contract, delict/tort and selected areas of family law.

Prof Steve Cornelius is a professor in and Head of the Department of Private Law and Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Law. Prof Cornelius served on the Disciplinary Tribunal of the International Association of Athletics Federations and is a member of the Independent Doping Hearing Panel of the South African Institute for Drug-free Sport. He is also an independent director on the board of Cricket South Africa.

Professor Ntombizozuko ‘Zozo’ Dyani-Mhango is professoer in and the Head of the Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, at the University of Pretoria. Her areas of specialisation fall under International Constitutional Law, with a focus on African Union Law and its right to intervene, its relationship with the International Criminal Court, as well as its member states obligations in international criminal justice. She also focuses on South Africa’s international and constitutional obligations in this regard, as well as public power

Dr Melanie Murcott is a senior lecturer in the Department of Public Law at the University of Pretoria where she teaches administrative and environmental law. Her research focuses on the potential of environmental law and administrative law to contribute towards South Africa’s project of transformative constitutionalism.

Ms Buyi Cele has immense experience in the area of social work. She has worked as a child protection officer; assistant project coordinator for the UN Child Justice Project and taken on many other roles. She is currently an independent consultant.

Dr Maria Mabetoa has extensive experience and expertise in the area of social work. She was a senior lecturer a the University of South Africa where she coordinated the development of a new Bachelor of Social Work curriculum and supervised post graduate students.

Advocate Dikeledi Chabedi is an Advocate with the Pretoria Bar of Advocates and is based at Circle Chambers in Pretoria.

Ms Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh is the Executive Director of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre. She has significant experience and expertise in the fields of asylum, migration, refugee protection, citizenship and statelessness.

Dr Serges Djoyou-Kamga is an Associate Professor, Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute. He is an extensive experience on the right to development in the African human rights system, human rights from cross cultural perspectives, and disability rights.