Our Team
Nurina Ally, Director
Nurina Ally is the Director of Centre for Law and Society and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Public Law. She is a specialist in constitutional and administrative law, and her research interests include movement lawyering, public interest litigation, socio-economic rights and children's rights. Prior to joining the Faculty's Department of Public Law, Nurina served as the Executive Director of the Equal Education Law Centre, a public interest law organisation based in Cape Town. Before this, Nurina practised as an associate and senior associate in the public law department of Webber Wentzel Attorneys. She has also served as a research clerk to Justice Cameron and Acting Justice Mhlantla of the Constitutional Court.
Nurina obtained her BA and LLB undergraduate degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand, where she graduated as the most distinguished scholar in law. She also holds a Masters degree in African Studies from the University of Edinburgh as well as a Masters of Studies degree in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University.
Jemima Thomas, Administrative Officer
CLS Administrative and Finance Officer. Jemima joined CLS in July 2013 responsible for the management of the Centre's budgets and timely reporting of financials to our funders.
Research Associates
Michael Bishop
Michael Bishop is a practicing advocate and a member of the Cape Bar. He holds a BA LLB and LLM from the University of Pretoria, and an LLM from Columbia University. Michael is the Managing Editor of the leading text on South African constitutional law – Woolman’s Constitutional Law of South Africa – the managing Editor of the Constitutional Court Review, and an editor of the new looseleaf publication Brickhill’s South African Constitutional Law. Michael previously worked as a law clerk to Chief Justice Pius Langa, and as in-house counsel at the Legal Resources Centre. He appears regularly in constitutional matters in the High Court, Supreme Court of Appeal, and the Constitutional Court. His interests include all aspects of constitutional law, but particularly constitutional remedies.
Vanya Gastrow
Vanya Gastrow is a Senior Researcher in the Justice and Violence Prevention Programme at the Institute for Security Studies and is involved in the programme’s Evidence-Based Policing Project. She holds a BA LLB and Mphil (Private Law) degree from the University of Cape Town, and a PhD in Migration Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand. Vanya has worked as a qualitative researcher in the field of law and society for over a decade with a particular focus on migration, policing and access to justice. She is the author of the book Citizen and Pariah: Somali Traders and the Regulation of Difference in South Africa.
Rebecca Gore
Rebecca Gore is a Research Associate at the Centre for Law and Society. Rebecca obtained her Bachelor of Social Sciences (PPE), Post-graduate Honours (Transitional Justice) and LLB from the University of Cape Town. Rebecca also holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from Harvard Law School, where she was awarded the Henigson Fellowship for her demonstrated commitment to international human rights work and the Dean’s Scholar Prize from Harvard’s International Human Rights Clinic. Previously, Rebecca was the legal researcher for the Inspecting Judge of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services, Justice Cameron, and a law clerk at the Constitutional Court in the Chambers of Justice Cameron, Justice Majiedt, and Justice Mhlantla. She has interned for The Presidency of the International Criminal Court in The Hague and various public interest organisations in South Africa. Rebecca’s research interests are broad and include criminal justice reform, gender-based violence, international law, human rights, constitutional law, and constitutional theory.
Tatiana Kazim
Tatiana is a legal advisor at SmartStart South Africa, working with the national Department of Basic Education (DBE) on reform of the law relating to early childhood development.
Tatiana is currently studying for an LLD in Public Law with Professor Sandra Liebenberg at Stellenbosch University. Her doctoral studies focus on the obligations of private actors in relation to socio-economic rights. She holds a Bachelor of Civil Law (LLM-equivalent) and an undergraduate law degree from the University of Oxford and a politics and philosophy degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Before joining EELC, Tatiana worked as a Research Fellow at the Public Law Project in the UK. She has also been a judicial assistant at the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and a legal assistant at the Law Commission of England and Wales.
Dan Mafora
Dan is a Senior Researcher at the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution. He is also the author of Capture in the Court: In Defence of Judges and the Constitution (Tafelberg, 2023) which was longlisted for the 2024 Sunday Times Literary Awards (Non-Fiction Prize). Previously, he served his articles of clerkship at DLA Piper South Africa with exposure to corporate law, banking and finance, data protection, and general commercial law. Before that he served as a law clerk to Justice Mbuyiseli R. Madlanga at the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Pretoria and has recently concluded an LLM in constitutional theory from the University of Cape Town. His research interests are broadly in constitutional and administrative law, general jurisprudence, constitutional theory, judicial politics, and corporate law.
Student Assistants
Lizwi Majola
Lizwi is a final year student in the Graduate LLB stream at UCT Law. Prior to studying at UCT, Lizwi obtained a BA Public Management and Governance degree with distinction at the University of Johannesburg and worked in corporate as a client relationship manager for five years.
During his law degree, Lizwi has been actively involved in moot court competitions and was on the research sub-committee for the Students for Law and Social Justice in 2024. Lizwi joined CLS as a student researcher in 2024 for the Amicus Lab project.