ADV. EUPHODIA “LIZA” TSATSI SC (SA)

Background and Previous Experience

Adv. “Liza” Tsatsi SC qualified and practiced as a social worker before she got admitted as an advocate in 1998 after completing her LLB degree with UNISA in 1997. In 1996 she was appointed by the law school/law faculty as a legal researcher. Among others, her duties were: to assist law professors with their research, assist the undergraduate students with their research projects and liaise between lecturers and undergraduate students at UNISA. In 1985, she was appointed as a lecturer at the erstwhile University of Bophuthatswana (now North-West University). In 2005, she moved to Canada where she subsequently obtained the Canadian professional legal qualification at the University of Ottawa, Ontario, broadening her international legal experience.
Adv. Tsatsi SC used to chair Disciplinary Hearings for SARS between 1999 and 2001. She currently chairs Disciplinary Hearings for private attorneys. From 1998 to 2001, she was appointed by the Minister of Rural Development and Land Affairs to chair the land claims disputes committees in the North West Province. She is the former vice chairperson of the Black Advocate Forum (BAFO) between 1998 and 2001. She was appointed as the first ever Court Services Manager in South Africa in 2002 managing more than 13 courts in the Johannesburg region, with a staff of 700 people. She implemented Departmental policies, liaised between the prosecution, judiciary and the administration.

As part of her job, she went on a tour of various courts in multiple cities in the USA in order to benchmark Court systems and processes for the South African courts. She also managed her own businesses before qualifying as an advocate. She has been involved in various charity projects in South Africa where she rendered voluntary community services, using her resources and time to help vulnerable members of society. She has previously served as a non-executive director in non-profit organizations (“the NGO”).

Adv. Tsatsi SC acted as a Judge of the High Court in various Divisions in South Africa. She was the head of the Secretariat of the Claassen and Moloi Boards of Inquiry around 2012 and 2015 respectively.

She served as a member of both Johannesburg and Limpopo Society of Advocates Bar Councils respectively and an executive member of Advocates for Transformation (AFT)( Johannesburg Branch). She was appointed as Secretary General, subsequently as Chairperson of Advocates for Transformation (AFT) between 2013 and 2015 at the Johannesburg Society of Advocates. Adv. Tsatsi SC is the former Deputy – Chairperson of the Limpopo Provincial Legal Practice Council.

Liza is also an author and a community advocate who has served various non-profit organisations and charitable initiatives, volunteering her time and resources.

Qualifications

Adv. Tsatsi SC obtained her Masters of Law (LLM) in 2000 two years after she completed her pupillage in 1998 at the Johannesburg Society of Advocates. Whilst working as a Researcher at UNISA she was also studying for her Bachelor of Law (LLB) (Post graduate) which she completed in 1997. She obtained her Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) with UNISA in 2009, whilst studying for her Canadian Legal Qualification at the University of Ottawa, which was accredited by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada.

Her Honours in Bachelor of Arts ( BASW (Hon)) was obtained at the time when she was practicing as a social worker. Her first degree in Bachelor of Arts: Social Work (BA: SW) was completed at the University of Limpopo (Turfloop) followed by Advanced Diploma in Social Work (Adv. Dip. in SW) at the then University of Bophuthatswana now North-West University.

She has also completed training in arbitration and mediation.

Areas of Practice

• Administrative and Constitutional law
• Contract Law and Family law
• Immigration law
• Insolvency, Pension and Insurance law
• Labour law
• Land and Property law
• Law of Defamation and Media law
• Medical negligence
• Local Government law and Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Personal Injury law and Unlawful Arrest and Detention
• Chairing the disciplinary hearings