Torturous, taxing and stressful – that is how well known former justice and correctional services department spin doctor Mthunzi Mhaga described the eight months during which he did his pupillage following his successful application to the Pretoria Society of Advocates.
Mhaga, whose mother died in 2017, said he was encouraged to finally go through pupillage after the loss when – during an insomniac state – he heard a voice motivating him to tackle the next level of his career.
He said he was supported by a slew of figures in the legal fraternity and government, including former National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli, advocate Dali Mpofu, minister in the presidency Jeff Radebe and advocate Dr Tsietsi Ramatsekisa.
Mhaga made a quiet exit out of government in January, after 17 years.
“I did my part in government [and] it’s now time for me to contribute at another level, but within the justice system,” he said.
Mhaga, before becoming a spokesperson in the justice and correctional services ministry in 2009, was working as a prosecutor in Mthatha.
He said the next phase of his life will be “easy as it will be just a matter of switching to defence advocate now”.
But passing the pupillage in the first place had not been easy, he said.
“I was sleeping for four hours on average from January to June, when lectures ended, and then after that when we had to prepare for mid-year exams and in August [for the] final exams.
“I had no social life and could not attend the funerals of six people close to me – but I had the support of my partner at home so she made things easy on the home front.”
Mhaga said he was engulfed by a fear of failing.
“I had no salary and no income so you can imagine if I had failed – it would have shattered me.
“The programme is so intense that you lose yourself to it if you really want to pass.”
He said the death of his mother in February last year was a defining moment.
“Before the funeral, after my cousin and I fixed stuff and things like that, I decided to retire to bed.
“It was after midnight but I struggled to sleep. I was in bed in an insomniac state when I just heard a voice telling me to leave government and go sit for pupillage. I decided there and then that I would do it.”
Now, more than a year later, Mhaga announced: “After a taxing, torturous, stressful, exciting and nerve-racking eight-month programme where I had no salary and no income, I am pleased that God made it possible for me to pass pupillage outright.
“I can now go back to doing that which I am passionate about, which is court work.”
Mhaga said he would start his own practice.
Pikoli said: “Mthunzi always showed potential when he was still a junior prosecutor in Mthatha and that’s when I brought him to the NPA because he’s an example of a decent public servant.
“I knew he wanted to sit for pupillage and I encouraged him to do it. He sacrificed a lot and he passed.
“I congratulate him for the level of commitment and dedication he’s shown.”
Ramatsekisa, a member of the Pretoria Society of Advocates, also supported Mhaga.
“You really need a lot of counselling before you do it [pupillage] because you’d be leaving your job and [not] earning. I told him not to panic and to just do it.
“He did his pupillage [when] he was very famous as a spokesperson, but he never considered himself a celebrity.
“So I’m not surprised that he passed.”