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24
August 2010 : For immediate release
Law
Society Welcomes Election of South African Attorney as
President of the SADC Lawyers Association
The
Law Society of South Africa
(LSSA) welcomes the election of Pietermaritzburg attorney
Thoba Poyo-Dlwati as President of the SADC Lawyers
Association (SADCLA).
Ms
Poyo-Dlwati, past Co-Chairperson of the Law Society of
South Africa, was elected President at the annual general
meeting of the SADCLA in Lubumbashi
this past week-end. She is the first woman to take this
leadership position at the SADCLA. Renowned Zimbabwean
human-rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa was elected
Vice-President, and Yvonne Chilume of
Botswana
, Kondwa Sakala-Chibiya of Zambia
and Patrick Mulowayi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, were elected to the SADCLA Executive.
'The
election of Ms Poyo-Dlwati as SADCLA President is a
well-deserved honour as she served the LSSA as
Co-Chairperson last year with great distinction', say the
LSSA's current Co-Chairpersons, Max Boqwana and Peter
Horn. They add : 'We are particularly pleased to note that
four of the five members of the Executive of the SADCLA
are women. This is a notable achievement for the
organisation and sends a strong signal to legal
practitioners in the SADC region of the increasingly
prominent role assumed by women lawyers in leadership
positions in the legal profession'.
The
SADCLA works to maintain and promote the Rule of Law
throughout the SADC region as well as human rights,
including the rights of people with disabilities, women
and children. Besides ensuring that the people of SADC
region are served by an independent and efficient legal
profession, the SADCLA also fosters a common bond of
cooperation within the region by strengthening
professional links between members of the legal
profession. It is also working towards the harmonisation
of legal systems in the SADC region.
Ms
Poyo-Dlwati, a director at Pietermaritzburg firm Ngcobo
Poyo & Diedericks, has represented the LSSA on the
Council of the SADCLA for a number of years. She was
Co-Chairperson of the LSSA in 2009 and was President of
the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society
in 2008. She has served on various committees both at the
LSSA and the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society and has been
chairperson of the Gender Committees of both bodies.
Issued
on behalf of the Co-Chairpersons of the Law Society of South
Africa, Max Boqwana and Peter Horn
Barbara Whittle
Communication Manager, Law Society of South Africa
Telephone : 012-366 8800 or 083-380 1307
E-mail : barbara@lssa.org.za
Website: www.lssa.org.za
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