The world is her oyster
Young R'fontein lawyer one of two South African representatives at United Nations.
Visiting different countries, negotiating with members of the United Nations (UN), and making sure South Africa’s best interests are served is a new reality for a young Randfontein attorney.
Zandi Matondo, attorney at Truter Crous Wiggill Inc in Greenhills, was recently nominated to participate in the Young African Lawyers Programme that forms part of Young Lawyers for Climate Change, and works hand-in-hand with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
The role of Africa’s young lawyers is to create legal backing for the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) for international instruments and to make sure every affected African country’s interests are served.
Zandi has a passion for climate change and is one of two lawyers chosen from South Africa to be part of the programme.
She explained that being in the programme is exciting as she and the other chosen lawyers are expected to be the eyes, ears and voice of Africa.
So far, she has been to the inception meeting for the programme as it is a new aspect of decision-making about African issues in the UN. She recently returned to South Africa from this meeting, which took place in Ethiopia.
Zandi now looks forward to upcoming conferences. The main focus currently is the Paris Agreement, which was implemented on 4 November, and aims to bring nations together to make ambitious efforts to combat climate change.
This young Randfontein lawyer has paved her way to success and now represents an entire nation legally regarding climate change in the UN.
While the responsibility is a big one and is a feather in Zandi’s cap, she remains modest, wanting only to better legislation about climate change.
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