Top rating for UKZN professor
Honoured scholar has no plans of stopping
PROFESSOR David McQuoid-Mason’s office at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) Centre for Socio-Legal Studies is lined with books, volumes of constitutional law and certificates.
But none of the information in the books compares with the experiences of the professor, who has been an integral part of South African history, working with Nelson Mandela, writing law frameworks, research and teaching some of the best legal minds in the country.
And now, McQuoid-Mason, 75, has received a National Research Foundation rating of A category at level A2, making him one of a handful of scholars to achieve this honour.
“I am pleased that my research is able to provide practical advice to professionals, their patients and clients on how to ensure that they abide by the provisions of our Constitution and advance human rights and access to justice in our country,” said McQuoid-Mason.
The rating, said UKZN, was achieved after a rigorous evaluation by peers and was based on the quality and the impact of research outputs.
McQuoid-Mason was to be honoured in Cape Town later this year. But he has no plans of stopping. McQuoid-Mason is involved in a book, Best International Street Law Practices, in honour of Ed O’Brien, the late co-founder of Street Law in the US, and is working on a chapter for an international book on clinical legal education.
Even during load shedding, he was going through chapters in the book, and this past week was training ombudspersons and public protectors from 28 African countries in negotiation and mediation skills.
“I get energy from the people I meet, be it a school pupil or a magistrate. I keep learning. And in this field, you just got to keep chipping away to make a difference. I’ve been doing this for more than 20 years. It’s been my struggle.
“I’ve been telling the public protectors from those countries that we need people to understand that we need to work together to achieve common interests. As an example, if we understand our common interest is to make our country great, then we need to work together to make this happen,” said McQuoid-Mason.
His CV is extensive and includes establishing one of the first university legal aid clinics in South Africa in August 1973.
McQuoid-Mason was a member of the team of international legal aid experts for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime that drafted the Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems (2013), and the UN Model Law on Legal Aid in Criminal Proceedings, which he had initiated.
However, it is his view on values that underlines his passion in the legal field.
“It’s easy to change knowledge. What’s hard to teach and hard to change are hearts, minds, attitudes and values. We need a caring society and a society that has a moral compass to do what is right, a society that abides by the law, and this is what we need to teach children from Grade1,” he said.
And in the face of the much-publicised corruption in the country, and numerous commissions being held to hold people accountable, McQuoid-Mason said he had faith that the right decisions would be taken.
“All my ex-students are part of these structures, from Deputy Chief Justice Ray Zondo, who is heading the commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture, to Shamila Batohi, who is national director of public prosecutions at the National Prosecuting Authority.
“I have good people up there who are inspired by a moral compass. They are in charge of organs that can hold people accountable,” he said.
And in between his legal work, McQuoid-Mason is writing an illustrated children’s book on the life cycle of animals, which he expects to be ready by the end of the year.