The once sleepy town of Isipingo in the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal is the birthplace of a giant in South African law, Pat Moodley.
Currently, the provincial head of the KZN Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, Moodley, who has moved mountains since her career, is set to retire on November 29.
Her expansive career had humble beginnings as she grew up in apartheid South Africa with limited opportunities and plenty of discrimination. “I am a mother and grandmother, a women and children’s rights activist. I am a public servant committed to ensure that the public receives the assistance they require from our courts,” she described herself.
Moodley was raised in a close-knit neighbourhood, with her father working as a salesperson and her mother as a homemaker.
As a child, Moodley excelled in school. “I was a girl guide and the leadership roles I had in the organisation cultivated in me very early in my life the traits needed to succeed. We had very dedicated and committed teachers and school was an environment that nurtured me.”
She encountered someone who would affect the trajectory of her life, Zubie Seedat, a sari-clad Indian woman who was her father's lawyer. "I was about 13 or 14 years at the time and met this elegant woman. I was in awe, and she became one of my childhood mentors."
At the height of apartheid, as student protest broke out across the country in 1976, she was in Grade 11. This turbulent and violent time in the nation’s history awakened within the young woman a staunch and unrelenting warrior for justice. It harshly revealed the immense injustices of SA, which had been, as a child shielded from her.
“I became interested and involved in student politics and realised that it is only if I studied law that I could make a difference,” she added.
Obtaining a university degree was a non-negotiable in the family. An overachiever, she went above the bare minimum of her strict family’s requirements.
She began at the then-University of Durban-Westville (now University of KwaZulu-Natal) studying law. Moodley went on to do a Diplomatic Training Course in the Georgetown and Howard Universities, Washington DC in the US then a master's in law from UKZN, a Child Law Training Course at the London Metropolitan University and a Certificate in Family Law Arbitration in 2017.
Her first few years of university were marked by student uprisings, so when a call to boycott courses and exams was issued, she found herself in a difficult personal dilemma. "I was committed to the politics but knew that I could not sacrifice a year as with that I would have lost my bursary."
Against all odds, she continued her studies and was able to graduate. From 1990 to 1997, she worked at UKZN (Durban) as a lecturer, a senior lecturer and even a deputy dean of the law faculty.
She expressed her interest for the preservation of women's and children's rights, having learnt about the difficulties women face while seeking remedies for child support and domestic abuse while attending university. She understood she'd be focusing on society's most disadvantaged groups.
In a tremendous feat, Moodley was employed as the first Black Principal State Law advisor to the SA Law Reform Commission where she worked on the Child Justice Act.
She listed the following as her most treasured contributions: "I was fortunate enough to have been nominated by the first Minister of Justice, Min Dullah Omar, to the Project Committee on Child Justice and then joined the SALRC as the first Black State Law Advisor and was part of the team that drafted the Child Justice Act and Children’s Act and was involved in taking these pieces of legislation through the Parliamentary process.
"In January 2000, I was appointed as an Acting Magistrate in the Durban Court in the Family Court. The Domestic Violence Act was newly enacted, and I was responsible for DV, Maintenance and Children’s Court. I spent four years in this space and remain forever grateful for that experience."
Additionally, while at National Office, she formed and headed National Intersectoral Committees tasked with monitoring and overseeing the implementation of the Child Justice Act and the Sexual Offences Act. These committees were duplicated at the provincial level and performed an outstanding job of assuring legislative and regulatory compliance.
In her journey she faced all that comes with being a career-driven woman. She was asked while attending interviews when she planned to get married and have children.
"It was very difficult for women in law in those years and we fought a long hard battle to get where we are now. Most workplaces presented the ever-present threat of sexual harassment, and it is commendable that most workplaces today have strict policies against harassment."
Moodley overcame and worked to ensure that other women do not face this discrimination.
"In a dynamic democracy as is ours, there will always be room for improvement. The finalisation of the legislation on Sex work is outstanding and we simply must tighten up legislation on sexual predators who get children pregnant and on Violence against Children and Fillicide. Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) must be escalated to assist our burdened court rolls, particularly in Family Law matters," she said.
On the verge of retirement, the hard worker has numerous pet projects, but she wants to focus on enhancing ADR options for families in crisis and guaranteeing equitable access to these remedies for all families in need.
She also hopes to improve intersectoral collaboration in controlling violence against children and boosting responses to children in need. Moodley advised women who want to pursue law: "The pathway has been cleared by those that have gone before. Last year we celebrated 100 Years of women in Law. They need to pursue their dreams and remember to always give back to their communities."
IOL