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UFS hosts 20th Kovsie Moot Court Competition

13 August 2025 | Story Tshepo Tsotetsi | Photo Stephen Collett

The Law Clinic in the Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently hosted the 20th annual Kovsie Moot Court Competition, which brings together first-year law students from across Southern Africa. The competition took place from 4 to 6 August 2025 at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein, offering students the rare opportunity to present arguments in one of the country’s highest courts.

Participating institutions included Eduvos (Bloemfontein Campus), the University of Johannesburg, Rhodes University, and the National University of Lesotho, among others.

Moot Court as a culture and a foundation

Pinky Mokemane, Moot Court Coordinator at UFS, described the competition as far more than an event. “Moot Court is a culture. It brings to life everything students have been studying. They are not just reading theory – they are applying it, speaking it, and defending it,” she said.

Over 200 first-year LLB students signed up to participate in this year’s internal selection process, and three – Niniwe Rens, Kabelo Mokhotla, and Sfiso Mbasela – were ultimately selected to represent UFS. Mokemane said being able to argue legal points in the SCA is a privilege no other university currently offers, and students should not take this opportunity for granted.

Legal Behemoth, a UFS student association that works closely with the Law Clinic to promote a strong moot culture at the university, was a critical force behind the success of this year’s Moot Court programme. The group plays a central role in planning the competition – training students, liaising with legal professionals, and teaching foundational advocacy skills from scratch.

Lethabo Lekhuleng, Chairperson of Legal Behemoth, explained that the group’s support starts long before the competition itself. “We begin by training the students from the ground up. Most of them don’t know anything about oral advocacy or courtroom procedure. So we guide them, give direction, and help them build confidence step by step,” she said.

Describing the students’ growth over the course of the competition, she added, “It was definitely the confidence [that grew]. From the first round to the final round, they became far surer of themselves in how they spoke, how they presented arguments, and how they carried themselves in court.”

Herman du Randt, a senior associate at PH Attorneys and a UFS alumnus, was one of the judges presiding over the competition. “We were looking for confidence. A student must show that they trust themselves and know their arguments. It is not only what you say, but why you say it, and the legal authority behind it,” he explained.

Du Randt was deeply impressed, describing the students’ overall performance as “breathtaking”. “The amount of effort they put in, the depth of their research, and the clarity of their arguments was exceptional,” he said.

He also emphasised the importance of such competitions in shaping the future of legal professionals. Drawing from his experience of representing UFS internationally through Moot Court, he said, “There are thousands of students graduating with LLBs every year. You need something that makes you stand out. Moot Court is one of the most exposure-rich things you can do as a student. If you don’t take part, you miss a huge opportunity.”

Growth through experience: voices from the court floor

Rens and Mokhotla spoke candidly about their experience. “It was hectic. There were sleepless nights, a lot of preparation. But it was all worth it,” Rens said. Both students want to become advocates, and for them, presenting arguments in the SCA was a glimpse into their future.

Mokhotla reflected on what the experience taught her about herself: “I am not defined by failure. The fact that I stood in that court and saw my name there already meant so much. It was nerve-wracking, but I pushed myself to the limit – and that’s what I’ll take with me.”

Christopher Rawson, Acting Director of the UFS Legal Clinic, placed this year’s Moot Court effort within a broader educational vision. “The UFS Law Clinic plays a unique role in integrating practical legal education into the formal curriculum. The clinic hosts the competition and facilitates access to real-world and professionally relevant experiences in a court that is steeped in constitutional history, intellectual rigour, and the pursuit of justice. By doing so, the competition also supports the UFS’s Vision 130 commitments to producing graduates who are socially engaged, ethically grounded, and professionally competent,” he said.

Rawson also noted that early exposure to legal reasoning and oral argument builds the analytical and ethical foundation that students need. “From their initial submissions to their final oral arguments, the growth shown by our students reflects the strength of our approach – combining academic knowledge with skills-based learning and mentorship.”

Through its 20th edition, the Kovsie Moot Court Competition once again demonstrated that legal education at UFS is not confined to lecture halls.

News Archive

UFS law experts publish unique translation

2006-06-21

Attending the launch of the publication were from the left: Prof Boelie Wessels (senior lecturer at the UFS Faculty of Law), Prof Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS), Prof Johan Henning (Dean: UFS Faculty of Law) and Adv Jaco de Bruin (senior lecturer at the UFS Faculty of Law). Prof Wessels translated the treatise from corrupted medieval lawyer Latin into English, Prof Henning is the leading author and initiator of the publication and Adv de Bruin assisted with the proofreading and editing. Photo: Stephen Collett

UFS law experts publish unique translation of neglected source of partnership law

The Centre for Business Law at the University of the Free State (UFS) has translated a unique long neglected Roman-Dutch source of the law of partnership law from Latin into English. This source dates back to 1666.

The book, called Tractatus de Societate (A Treatise on the Law of Partnership), by Felicius and Boxelius is published as Volume 40 in the research series Mededelings van die Sentrum vir Ondernemingsreg/Transactions of the Centre for Business Law. It is the first translation of this Roman-Dutch source into English and comprises of a comprehensive discussion of the South African common law of partnerships.

“Apart from various brief provisions dealing on a peace meal and an ad hoc basis with diverse matters such as insolvency, there is no comprehensive Partnership Act in South Africa. The law of partnership in South Africa consists of South African common-law, which is mainly derived from Roman-Dutch law,” said Prof Johan Henning, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the UFS. Prof Henning is also the leading author and initiator of this comprehensive publication.

“Countries such as America, England, Ireland and The Netherlands have drafted or are in the process of establishing new modern partnership laws in line with new international guidelines, practices and commercial usages,” said Prof Henning.

“However, in South Africa the most recent policy document released by the Department of Trade and Industry explicitly excludes partnership law from its present company law reform programme and clearly regards this as an issue for another day,” said Prof Henning.

“Unless there is a political will to allocate the necessary resources to a comprehensive partnership law revision program, it is a practical reality that South Africa will not have a modern Partnership Act in the foreseeable future,” said Prof Henning.

According to Prof Henning South African courts have been using the Roman-Dutch partnership law sources as authority. “The English Partnership Act of 1890 is not binding and the English text books should therefore be approached with caution,” said Prof Henning.

“A treatise on the law of partnership that has been regarded by South African courts as an important common law authority is that of a Frenchman by the name of Pothier. This treatise was translated into English and was regarded as an authority of significance in The Netherlands towards the end of the eighteenth century,” said Prof Henning.

“Pothier’s opinions are however not valid throughout in the Roman-Dutch partnership law as it did not apply to the Dutch province of The Netherlands and it sometimes also rely on local French customs for authority,” said Prof Henning.

For this reason the Centre for Business Law at the UFS decided to focus its attention again on the significance of the comprehensive treatise of Felicius and Boxelius on the Roman-Dutch partnership law. Felicius was an Italian lawyer and Boxelius a Dutch lawyer.

This long neglected source of partnership law was published in 1666 in Gorkum in The Netherlands. "A significant amount of Roman-Dutch sources of authoritive writers trusted this treatise and referred to it,” said Prof Henning.

The translation of the treatise from corrupted medieval lawyer Latin into English was done by Prof Boelie Wessels, a very well-known expert on Roman Law and senior lecturer at the UFS Faculty of Law. Prof Wessels, who has 15 degrees, spent almost ten years translating the treatise. The proofreading and editing of the translation was done by Prof Henning and Adv Jaco de Bruin, a senior lecturer at the UFS Faculty of Law.

“We want the South African courts to use Volume 40 in the research series Mededelings van die Sentrum vir Ondernemingsreg/Transactions of the Centre for Business Law as the primary source of reference when cases where Roman-Dutch Law partnership law principles are involved, are ruled on,” said Prof Henning.

The first part of the publication comprises of selected perspectives on the historical significance of the work as well as a translation of selected passages. “The intention is to follow this up expeditiously with the publication of a very limited edition of a complete translation of the work,” said Prof Henning.

A total of 400 copies of the publication will be distributed to all courts, the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
21 June 2006

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