Dr Thapelo Teele’s dissertation was upgraded to a PhD just a year after he registered his LLM at the University of Cape Town (UCT), an unprecedented event described by the university as a “rarely seen feat”.
Teele believes that it was the grace of God that allowed him to accomplish such.
He said he struggled through his LLB studies and it was his final year research paper that turned everything around for him.
“That paper was the launch pad that would get me into masters because that paper gave me an opportunity to publish, I am published in an academic journal, the second thing was that the faculty at UCT was so gracious to grant me a scholarship,” he said.
Teele likes to joke that he fell into his masters studies. He was enrolled for the studies in 2020 and then Covid hit, bringing everything to a standstill.
He says he felt like the world was ending but thought to himself that if the world were to end he should leave behind some kind of impact.
“I made the decision to just read. I read and wrote. I edited, I revised. I sort of woke up one day and realised I had exceeded the word count for a masters dissertation, according to UCT policy.”
He had written 60,000 words and the standard is 40,000 words.
He sent his work to his supervisor, who was impressed with the quality of the work and suggested that they apply to be upgraded to a PhD. After a week of deliberation, Teele agreed with his supervisor.
Teele, who grew up between Lesotho and SA, says that it gave him so much perspective about life in general and impacted how he understood the rule of law in his everyday life.
Seeing black people be their best was a great foundation for him as a child.
“It really instilled in me that the sky is the limit for me.”
Teele’s passion for law stems from the love he has for SA and his personal history – his father is in the legal profession and his paternal grandfather was a coal miner, who unfortunately passed on due to silicosis.
A sense of injustice at the plight of other miners like his grandfather pushed Teele to try to understand what the law was, how it worked and how the law could be used to the advantage of the people. Class action cases that involved the mining industry often made him emotional. These moments are what helped him remember why he pursued studies in law.
“I think at the core of what I do is the desire to serve. I think it’s deeply connected to my faith as well, and the belief that I cannot be on this earth solely for myself, for my own benefit and my own enjoyment. There is a bigger purpose to serve, one way or another. Of course, I cannot go back in time and undo things, but I felt the law was a really powerful tool to meaningfully make an impact in the quality of people’s lives on an everyday basis.”
Teele, 30, states that all those in the legal profession have a duty to the people who reside in the country, whether they are undocumented, asylum seekers or whatever the case may be.
He is a passionate patriot whose love for the country extends to art as he believes that it is a very important part of the South African narrative.
dlomol@sowetan.co.za
UCT upgrades Teele’s master's thesis to a doctorate
Dr Teele wrote 60,000 words and the standard is 40,000
Image: Supplied
Dr Thapelo Teele’s dissertation was upgraded to a PhD just a year after he registered his LLM at the University of Cape Town (UCT), an unprecedented event described by the university as a “rarely seen feat”.
Teele believes that it was the grace of God that allowed him to accomplish such.
He said he struggled through his LLB studies and it was his final year research paper that turned everything around for him.
“That paper was the launch pad that would get me into masters because that paper gave me an opportunity to publish, I am published in an academic journal, the second thing was that the faculty at UCT was so gracious to grant me a scholarship,” he said.
Teele likes to joke that he fell into his masters studies. He was enrolled for the studies in 2020 and then Covid hit, bringing everything to a standstill.
He says he felt like the world was ending but thought to himself that if the world were to end he should leave behind some kind of impact.
“I made the decision to just read. I read and wrote. I edited, I revised. I sort of woke up one day and realised I had exceeded the word count for a masters dissertation, according to UCT policy.”
He had written 60,000 words and the standard is 40,000 words.
He sent his work to his supervisor, who was impressed with the quality of the work and suggested that they apply to be upgraded to a PhD. After a week of deliberation, Teele agreed with his supervisor.
Teele, who grew up between Lesotho and SA, says that it gave him so much perspective about life in general and impacted how he understood the rule of law in his everyday life.
Seeing black people be their best was a great foundation for him as a child.
“It really instilled in me that the sky is the limit for me.”
Teele’s passion for law stems from the love he has for SA and his personal history – his father is in the legal profession and his paternal grandfather was a coal miner, who unfortunately passed on due to silicosis.
A sense of injustice at the plight of other miners like his grandfather pushed Teele to try to understand what the law was, how it worked and how the law could be used to the advantage of the people. Class action cases that involved the mining industry often made him emotional. These moments are what helped him remember why he pursued studies in law.
“I think at the core of what I do is the desire to serve. I think it’s deeply connected to my faith as well, and the belief that I cannot be on this earth solely for myself, for my own benefit and my own enjoyment. There is a bigger purpose to serve, one way or another. Of course, I cannot go back in time and undo things, but I felt the law was a really powerful tool to meaningfully make an impact in the quality of people’s lives on an everyday basis.”
Teele, 30, states that all those in the legal profession have a duty to the people who reside in the country, whether they are undocumented, asylum seekers or whatever the case may be.
He is a passionate patriot whose love for the country extends to art as he believes that it is a very important part of the South African narrative.
dlomol@sowetan.co.za
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