Prominent business leaders and lawyers came together on 8 October for the launch of the Yunus Mohamed Public Interest Award in Kramerville, Sandton.
The Yunus Mahomed Public Interest Award provides an avenue for constructive engagement between the providers of goods and services, usually an organ of state, affected communities, usually poor and marginalised groups. Carried out in partnership with selected universities, the award recognises published articles in law, business and ethics. Yunus Ismail Mahomed, who the award was named after, was a South African lawyer, anti-apartheid cadre, development activist and business leader.
Reverend Chikane together with Yunus Mahomed’s life partner Judge Dhaya Pillay, handed over the award and R10 000 to University of Cape Town (UCT) student Nigel Patel who walked away with the Yunus Mahomed Public Interest Award for his article titled, Violent Cistems: Trans experience of bathroom space.
Patel’s article drew attention to the injustices of having gender-restricting bathroom spaces and the ideologies which manifest in verbal, visual and physical violence against the victims, most of whom are women, homosexual, transgender and those not confined to the traditional gender stereotypes.
Speaking at the awards Advocate Terry Motau called for law enforcement institutions to be reinvigorated. He said, “People know that nothing happens to perpetrators, responsible institutions don’t do anything.
“As we rebuild our country, we must understand that this is a holistic problem of an orchestrated plan. To undo it, we need to realise this is a collective responsibility.”
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