Master of Laws (LLM) graduates Ms Sanam Govender, Mr Glynn Kent, and Ms Celeste Pillay graduated cum laude with their postgraduate degrees in Law.
The complexity and ever-evolving nature of taxation, coupled with its relevance in Corporate Law, motivated Govender to pursue a Master of Laws in Taxation.
“I enjoyed income tax during my undergraduate studies. I saw a niche and an opportunity to challenge myself and advance myself professionally – and I took it. I thoroughly enjoyed my master’s degree, especially analysing and interpreting complex concepts,” said Govender.
Her study titled: ‘Are Gambling Winnings Taxable under the “Gross Income” Definition? A Discussion of Legal and Illegal Gambling Transactions’, was supervised by Mr Christopher Schembri. It focused on a relatively underexplored area – the tax implications of gambling winnings.
“Gambling is highly prevalent in South Africa. The notion that gambling winnings may be taxable would affect many people, especially those who use gambling to supplement their income. Further, illegal gambling is a rapidly growing concern in South Africa and whilst illegal income is taxable there is very little literature on whether an illegal activity may constitute a trade for the purposes of taxation,” said Govender.
Govender, a candidate attorney at Strauss Daly’s Corporate and Commercial Department, completed her master’s while working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the School of Law. However, her two-year academic journey was not without challenges.
“I think the two years I spent completing my master’s may have been two of the most difficult years of my personal life. In the first month of my masters, my grandfather passed. Then in the second year, my family and I were completely displaced by the tornado that hit the North Coast in 2024. I struggled with the trauma of that experience and still do, over a year later. But with support from my family, my partner and my supervisor, I persisted and I just kept going,” said Govender.
After a 10-year break from studying, Kent’s decision to return to academia to pursue an LLM in Environmental Law has proved worthwhile.
“I have been in practice as an attorney for several years now. Unfortunately, the size of our firm’s environmental practice means that I still need to focus my attention towards other areas of Law. I am hoping that this qualification will give further credence to my capabilities as an environmental lawyer and help to grow my practice,” said Kent.
Kent’s study, supervised by Professor Michael Kidd was titled: ‘Considering Ecological Thresholds in the Environmental Decision-Making Process: An Argument for Application of the Precautionary Principle’.
“My research was concerned with development within ecological limits. I sought to conceptualise a basis for the incorporation of the planetary boundaries’ framework into the environmental decision-making process at a project or activity level. As the planetary boundaries framework sets ecological limits within which society is to develop in order to maintain earth’s systems and processes in a state conducive to human wellbeing, the research considered a mechanism for ecological limits to form part of the decision-making process in South Africa,” said Kent.
After graduating with her Bachelor of Laws (LLB) summa cum laude in 2023 pursuing an LLM in Business Law was the next logical choice for Pillay.
“I chose income tax as an elective whilst studying my LLB degree and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also enjoyed Corporate Law as a fourth-year module. This led me to the decision of choosing Business Law for my master’s as it brought Corporate Law and tax together in a wonderfully enlightening way,” said Pillay.
Pillay’s study, supervised by Mr Avishkaar Ramdhin was titled: ‘The Impact of Covid-19 on Commercial Rental Obligations.’ It focused on the impact of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions upon the duties of commercial landlords and tenants.
‘This topic was very interesting and dealt with a recent event that affected every area of society so it was easy to stay passionate about the topic,” said Pillay.
“A surprising and interesting discovery that I made while drafting my thesis was that the commercial lease sector was left fairly unregulated during the lockdown period. Instead, businesses were encouraged to negotiate with their landlords to settle their rental payments. However, a challenge that I faced while researching was the limited scope of material directly linking to commercial lease and COVID-19 in South Africa. This is a gap in the literature that my thesis fills.”
Words: Thandiwe Jumo
Photographs: Sethu Dlamini