TWO Beaconhurst High School pupils won the National Moot Court Competition in Pretoria recently which has afforded them the chance to compete in the Netherlands next year.
The Grade 11 pupils – Kian Terwin and Qhayiya Mayinje – both wrote an essay on a hypothetical case.

They successfully battled it out and went through several intense rounds to make it to the finals.
The finals were held in the Constitutional Court and it was ruled in favour of the Beaconhurst side, making them the winners of this year’s National Moot Court Competition.
Their coach and teacher Ryno Simms said the information they received to write the essay with concerned a girl with dreadlocks.
“They said they would suspend the pupil. The high court ruled in favour of the school and we had to argue that it would have to go to the Constitutional Court. At the nationals, we competed against 37 other schools,” said Simms.
The school has participated in the Moot Court Competition for three years now and Simms, who started it at the school, said he has seen growth because in their first year they came ninth, then second and this year they came first in South Africa.
Simms is a law student at Unisa and said he used some of his knowledge to equip his pupils.
“I am so proud of them,” he said.
Simms also came first in the Excellence in Secondary Teaching in the Buffalo City Metro District category in the National Teachers Awards and will be participating in the provincial round at the end of this month.
Both boys agreed that their success has boosted their self-confidence. Mayinje wants to study law after matric, while Terwin wants to study medicine.
“I think the fact that we made it very far in the competition is great and the compliments we received shows that I am good at it and shows that maybe I can study law after matric,” said Mayinje.
Terwin, who was also awarded the best oralist for the competition, said: “The competition was very informative about the rights that I do have.
“Although I want to study medicine, participating has shown me that one has protected rights and we should be aware of them.”