Law internships in Cape Town

I first became interested in interning in Cape Town because of my desire to apply my studies in countries other than my own. As someone who studies Public Health and Law, I am always interested in how the government works to support its people, and I believe the best way to learn is to speak directly with the community. I quickly realized that Cape Town was a great city for this because of how friendly and willing to chat the locals are. My personal goal was to simply learn more about the legal system in South Africa. I anticipated this to come from my work, but I found that my best learning happened when I was speaking with locals throughout the day. I am particularly interested in social services and how a community is supported by the government and local organizations. Through my internship, I was able to learn directly from community members about how they navigate their legal issues and how South Africa has been supporting them. The organization provides underprivileged community members with access to essential legal services for free. Many clients are unfamiliar with the legal system and need guidance navigating important tasks such as drafting wills, reporting deceased estates and handling disputes. My role primarily consisted of face-to-face contact with clients. I assisted with their applications and helped gather relevant documentation. As I was often the first point of contact, I tried my best to be friendly and kind to ensure community members felt comfortable going through the process of receiving the assistance they needed. My advice for future interns is to keep an open mind and be prepared to speak with a large variety of people from different backgrounds each day. You will speak with people who are experiencing significant hardship, and it is important to stay empathetic. I stayed in Cape Town for four months, and I believe this was the perfect amount of time to fully immerse myself in the area. I was able to visit all the classic tourist spots, but also had enough time to explore on my own and discover my favorite hidden places around the city. The weekly VAC activities also provided me with a great opportunity to explore new places with other interns, and I am grateful to the VAC team for organizing these events and for their support.

My internship in Cape Town gave me the opportunity to learn much more about South Africa’s legal and political systems while gaining practical experience in a community-focused legal environment. I especially enjoyed contributing to projects connected to community participation and paralegal education. One of the most interesting parts of the experience was seeing how legal knowledge can be shared outside traditional legal settings and used to support people who are already active in their communities. I learned about efforts to equip community activists with practical legal knowledge so they can better support the people around them. The internship also taught me the importance of being patient and proactive when entering a new workplace. It took a little time to understand the flow of the organization, but once I settled in, I found the team incredibly welcoming. My advice to future interns would be to ask where you can help rather than waiting for someone to give you something to do. Taking that initiative made it much easier to become involved and learn from the people around me. I also valued the opportunity to network and learn from people working within a legal system different from the one I was familiar with at home. It gave me a broader perspective on the relationship between law, politics and community advocacy. VAC made the overall experience feel very supportive. From the beginning, I knew there were people I could turn to if I needed help, which made settling into life in Cape Town much easier. Overall, the experience gave me greater insight into community-based legal work and helped me understand how legal education can contribute to improving access to justice.

I chose Cape Town for my place to intern abroad because I have been interested in South Africa and its history for a very long time. Additionally, because I am African American, I have always wanted to go to Africa and experience the land my ancestors were taken from. I decided to do my internship because I wanted to get real-world experience in my field as well as help people in need. In my internship, I worked in a legal clearing house helping to connect people needing free legal assistance with lawyers able to provide such assistance. In my time there, I became familiar with the legal system of South Africa and significantly bolstered my skills in administrative work and with people in general, making it a great experience overall. My role was to help with administrative work. I helped clients fill out paperwork and worked on their files. One of the personal goals I reached during my internship was becoming more independent and gaining real-world experience. I feel really good now that I have worked a real job in my field. My advice for future interns is to make sure you are good with people and are able to focus for long periods of time. This internship is valuable experience, but it feels like a real job. You are not just shadowing people, and there is a lot of reading and writing. I really appreciated the support and knowing I could call VAC staff if I needed anything, as well as the weekly activities and Culture Series. The orientation activities were the best and definitely gave me some positive memories I will never forget. The Friday meetups and Monday Culture Series were also super fun and enjoyable.

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My time with VAC was nothing short of transformative. My home away from home, the people here have become family and Cape Town has become a place that will forever be in my heart. Without a doubt I will be back, to enjoy South Africa as well as see my VAC family again. My personal goal was to learn as much as possible about the South African legal system as well as just be a sponge for any situation. I definitely did this. I learned so much and feel like I’ve become so much more aware of how the law operates in South Africa and all over Africa. My internship organization contributes to long-term community change through free legal help and workshops explaining different parts of the law. My role was helping consultants with intake sheets to ensure a smooth consultation, as well as research and client-facing roles to support the attorneys. My tip for future interns would be to never forget you are truly helping people in a way that is truly special. Legal burdens are debilitating, and helping those who cannot afford it is rewarding in many ways. Work hard and remember you are changing people’s lives! Besides being instantly welcomed, VAC not only placed me in an amazing internship, but between the Culture Series, Friday adventures, and overall being supportive, they helped me understand and experience South Africa in the best way possible. I can’t put into words how grateful I am for my experience here, and I will forever tell everyone about the best two months ever! Thank you VAC! <3 I felt, during my entire time here, supported fully and knew that if I needed something the VAC family would be there. I truly appreciated it and thought the program did a wonderful job of being involved and letting us know they are there for anything.

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Spending my summer in South Africa was one of the most rewarding decisions I have made in my academic journey. I grew in ways I never expected and left Cape Town feeling more ambitious, culturally aware, and excited about a future focused on helping others. VACorps placed me in an internship that closely reflected my goals, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity. Some of my favorite memories include learning about South Africa with a local university professor, going on safari in the Eastern Cape, and attempting to finish an entire Gatsby in one sitting. What I will miss most, however, are the people and the relationships I built during my stay. Cape Town is unlike anywhere else, and my biggest advice would be to appreciate every moment, the mountains, the people, and every experience in between. I already know I will want to return one day.

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I was interested in Human Rights, and was asking for a placement where it would be incorporated with law. One of my other goals was to get to know the people and culture. Unfortunately, my internship was remote only - and I would totally understand that, due to Covid and the lockdowns. But: 1 - I asked for an internship where I could be on site. I was fine with some remote work, but I really wanted to get to know people here. As a result, the only South Africans I got to know where those who worked with VAC and Uber drivers. I had interesting chats, but I wanted to meet South Africans, ideally some who work in the legal/human rights field and get to know them and their lives and motivations. And 2 - I'm pretty sure the internship is always remote work, I don't think there even was a work place for interns. We did go to court a couple times, but once it was closed, the other time was to drop off papers, and then it was just to ask for a rescheduling. So no real cases or true legal insight. I realized quickly that this internship placement wasn't for me - there were about 8 other interns, almost all of them working remotely, all doing the same tasks. It was boring, and one of the interns I spoke to even considered studying something else, because it didn't appeal to her at all and she was really worried that law was the wrong choice. I would have been too, if I hadn't done an internship right before I came to Cape Town. So, two weeks in I asked for another internship. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find another placement, so I spent 2 months doing almost nothing and having a holiday. It was nice, but far too expensive - if I wanted a holiday, I could have had a far better trip for much less money. I met a lot of people though, and learned a lot about the US - far more than I learned about South Africa. The staff at VAC were great, and always there to assist or just for a very nice chat. Of the other interns some had great and amazing internships, others not so much - and some didn't care because really, they just came to party. So it is quite a toss up whether you land a good internship or not, and for that amount of money I wouldn't risk it. So unfortunately, I cannot recommend VACorps. I was looking for professional experience, and I wanted to know if human rights was a field I'd want to work in in the future. I wanted to experience South Africa and get to truly know the people, their problems and the good things. I was very disappointed that none of those goals were met after spending 2 months and a small fortune there.