The regional court at Makhado (Louis Trichardt) recently said farewell to a brilliant prosecutor, who has moved to Polokwane (Pietersburg) to become a magistrate.

Mashudu Maryrose Munzhelele (34), who grew up at Matangari Village near Thohoyandou, is a living example of what can be achieved when faced with difficult challenges.

Mashudu comes from a very big family of 11 brothers and sisters, where she was the only one who was interested in the law. Mashudu’s law career started when she came to Makhado (Louis Trichardt) where she was a candidate attorney.

After finishing her articles, Mashudu decided to become a prosecutor for the local magistrate’s court. According to Mashudu, the reason for her decision was all due to a Mrs Nenguvhela, a senior prosecutor at Thohoyandou, who had inspired her.

Mashudu started as a prosecutor in May 2000 and faced many difficult challenges in her line of work. On June 26, 2003, she had to face her greatest challenge. She was involved in a serious vehicle accident. The accident left Mashudu disabled and dependent on a wheelchair.

Mashudu’s disabled status did not stop her from pursuing her career and she was appointed as a prosecutor in the regional court of Makhado (Louis Trichardt) in May 2004. The regional court had even more challenges for Mashudu, where she learned to stand her ground firmly by having strong ethics.

Mashudu’s challenges were not only limited to the courts, but she still has an everyday challenge of raising her son on her own. Mashudu’s 14-year-old son is named Thembuluwo, who is currently a Grade 9 learner at the Makhado Comprehensive School. Being a parent makes her line of work even more difficult as her attention is always divided between that of a regional prosecutor and her role as a mother, but Mashudu jokingly told the Zoutpansberger that she prefers hard court cases to the teenage stage her son is in at the moment.

According to Mashudu, she got used to the challenges facing her and wanted to achieve yet another goal - becoming a magistrate. She applied for a magistrate position that was vacant in Polokwane. Anxiously awaiting the results of her interview, she received a letter on Wednesday, August 30, informing her that she had been appointed as the new magistrate.

Mashudu said she was very excited about the news. She told the Zoutpansberger that she will be working in a new environment, an environment where she will have to decide on the fate of a person.

Despite the excitement, Mashudu says she is sad to leave all of her old colleagues, whom she came to know so well and whom she even regards as a family.

Mashudu said she hoped that she would be able to inspire others like her in that they would live life to its full potential, despite being disabled.

Friday, September 29, was Mashudu’s last day of work at the local magistrate’s court and she has already set out on achieving more gaols she set for herself.