Inspired by CPUT’s resolve to expose students to real-life workplace situations, the Unit for Applied for Law took students to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament to learn about its functions and powers.

Second-year Paralegal Studies students attended the recent Legislative Education Workshop in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP).

Facilitated by WCPP’s Melvyn Dirkse, Acting Manager: Public Education and Outreach Section, the workshop revealed, among others, that the Western Cape is the only province with its own constitution, hence it has a provincial parliament with its own ministers.

Dirkse added that the functions of the provincial parliament are to oversee service delivery and pass laws as well as inform and educate citizens about its processes as a legislature.

The students learnt about the national constitution which forms the basis for the province’s constitution, the three spheres of government and the three organs that make up the state.

The students were also taken to the provincial parliament’s chamber where they learnt about the seating arrangement of the Members of the Provincial Legislature, including the seats that should be occupied by the Speaker and Premier, respectively.

The students also learnt about how to send a petition to the provincial parliament.

During the workshop, Adv Noleen Leach, the Unit’s Co-ordinator, announced that five deserving students will be selected to participate in a 14-day internship programme which will enable them to learn everything about the ins and outs of the provincial parliament.

Leach added that the successful students will work under Dirkse’s mentorship.

Written by Kwanele Butana

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A new student who lost her sight due to meningitis is determined to equip herself with skills and knowledge to uplift her community.

A Paralegal Studies student, Ntsheiseng Keiso or Stacey as she prefers to be called, is one of the two full-time students who are blind at CPUT.

The Bachelor of Paralegal Studies, which is the first degree of its kind on the continent, was recently launched and the three-year degree is offered by the Unit of Applied Law in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences and accommodates up to 100 registered students in its inaugural class of 2018.

In November 2014 Stacey went into a coma, and when she woke up in 2015 she had completely lost her sight due to meningitis.

CPUT is currently helping Stacey with transcribing her learning materials into audio. “Every time a lecturer hands out documents in class I ask them to send everything to the Disability Unit where I’ll get in audio after the lecture,” she says.

Stacey says, staying at the New Residence on the Bellville Campus is a new experience which brings about its own challenges that she also welcomes.

Prior to enrolling at CPUT, the Disability Unit felt it would be best for Stacey to first attend the League of Friends of the Blind (LOFOB) for independence training and computer skills where she spent six months.

“We referred Stacey there because she became blind so recently and had to learn these skills from a blind perspective. She was going to stay in residence so she would have to be independent, as such cook, do laundry and get to classes on her own,” says the unit’s Lillian Fortuin.

The other blind student is Joshua Preyser, a 2nd-year Information Technology student.

The process followed by the unit is to source textbooks in an electronic format that is compatible with the JAWS screen reading software program. If no electronic textbook is found then the unit scans pages that are needed and format them into a Word document.

The blind students write their exams and tests in the unit and its staff members will be scribing for Stacey during exams.

Visually-impaired students use computer labs which are equipped with large screen monitors as well as large font keyboards. We also have a Merlin magnifier that students can use during exam times or when they use the labs to read hard copy textbooks

Written by Kwanele Butana
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Related items

• Reimagining events post Covid-19
• Learning from our history
• Celebrating women’s contributions and successes
• Know your CPUT - Bellville Campus
• First digital research hub in SA