Durban — Former KwaZulu-Natal Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu, who has ambitions to become an advocate, has resigned from the provincial legislature on Tuesday to focus on pupillage.
Mshengu told the Daily News that he was not leaving politics but felt he had to vacate his seat in the legislature so that he has enough time to focus on law practice for a year in order to be accepted as an advocate. Mshengu said one needed to serve articles with a law firm, and this process is known as pupillage in legal terms.
Mshengu said he would remain a member of the ANC provincial executive committee. He said the pupillage would take a year and that he would decide whether he would continue with law or return to government, depending what the ANC wanted him to do.
Mshengu holds LLB and Master’s in Law degrees from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
In a statement issued by the provincial party leadership on Tuesday, the party said it had accepted his resignation and wished him well as he starts the new chapter in his life, adding that it was confident that he would emulate late heroes and heroines of the Struggle such as Griffiths and Victoria Mxenge, who dedicated their lives using justice to drive political and socio-economic transformation.
“Under a democratic government we expect lawyers to perform the role of being watchdogs of democracy, and should always be vigilant in matters concerning the rule of law as guaranteed by the Constitution. Importantly, we have confidence that Mshengu will ensure equal access to justice for the poor,” read the statement.
Furthermore, the ANC commended him for serving the people of the province in various capacities, notably as the MEC for Education. The ANC said that when Mshengu assumed his responsibilities in 2019, he understood that the education system was a work in progress which required the people of the province to put their shoulders to the wheel.
“Without any shadow of doubt, this province has achieved good matric results throughout the intervening years because of his hard work. He ensured the co-operation among various stakeholders behind a common goal of achieving quality education.”
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