POLOKWANE – Jackie grew up in the small village of Blood River, outside Polokwane and wanted to study law because he says he is a very vocal person who likes to stand up for the rights of others. “I like to be people’s voice, people who are not vocal. I see it as a tool to fight for the wrongs and rights of others,” he said.
Jackie studied at the University of Venda from 2007-2010. “The board exam was very challenging, it tested all the knowledge I learned at university and at the practical law school.
At some point I wanted to call it a day, but then I thought, to quit is not the solution nor an option. I didn’t come this far to give everything I work so hard for away. Law is my passion, I wasn’t and I’m not going to give up that easy,” he said.
His advice to law students or individuals who have a passion for law is that: “you must be ready to work in a very challenging environment, as the law changes everyday,” he advised.
Besides his career in law, Jackie is the director of his company called R.J.N Sports Management. “I manage soccer players, I fight for their rights. My company basically negotiate soccer players’ contracts. Players can rely on me as their football lawyer, if they are going through challenges and issues within their teams. I’m focusing more on Polokwane football teams for now, in the future I will move to other provinces,” he said.
In the future, Jackie wishes to practice as an attorney in a law firm. “When it comes to careers, you must love what you do and that will make your work and everything else easier to deal with and to work with everyday,” he added.
He further explains that his law degree is a combination of theory and practical. “It is a fairly defined profession and it’s tuition has to also be vocational in nature. I knew that learning the theory of law, will make me spend a lot of time trawling through cases. This gave me real life examples to demonstrate how theory is applied.”
“The law also teaches you to respect and get respect from your employees,” he said.
Jackie believes being a law student is not easy and law students must get use to feeling lost, as the lectures teach, you will get lost in the process, and only understand later when you are reading or revising on your own. “Embrace the law, and most importantly, follow the law’s four R’s: Read, research, revise (write) and reference.
When you studied law, you don’t have to be a lawyer per say, as there are so many avenues and paths you can follow with your law degree,” he said.
And for law students that are going to be writing the law board exam soon, Jackie advises them to write neat and legibly, manage their time correctly and to answer questions directly.
