Building a legacy through justice

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From his roots in Cofimvaba to establishing a black-owned law firm in Pretoria, Thembelani Mpakati has built his career around a commitment to justice, economic transformation and creating opportunities for the next generation of legal professionals.

For Thembelani Mpakati, the law has always represented more than a profession. It is a means of challenging inequality, empowering communities and creating opportun-ities for people who have histor-ically struggled to access justice.

Growing up in the rural village of Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape, Mpakati witnessed the barriers facing ordinary South Africans seek-ing economic justice. Those experiences shaped his ambitions and ultimately in-spired him to establish Mpakati Inc. Attorneys, a Pretoria-based, black-owned law firm founded in 2020.

“I grew up in the dusty village of Cofimvaba where access to economic justice doesn’t exist. As a young activist, I always wanted to serve the underprivileged,” he explains.

“I saw that the law wasn’t reaching ordinary people, so I founded Mpakati Attor-neys in Pretoria, a black-owned, human rights-centred firm that combines litigation, investigations, risk management and good governance tools to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves and to use law to transform society," says Mpakati, who also sits on two boards, the Media Devel-opment and Diversity Agency (MDDA) and the North West Liquor Board as Deputy Chairperson.

His journey into the legal profession was not a conventional one. Mpakati holds a Na-tional Diploma in Cost and Management Accounting from Walter Sisulu University and an LLB from the University of South Africa. Before his admission as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa, he spent 12 years working across the public and private sectors.

His professional background also includes leadership positions within organised labour, service as Deputy Chair-person of the National Treasury Bargaining Council and involvement with the National Association of Democratic Lawyers.

These experiences helped shape his understanding of leadership as a resp-onsibility to others rather than simply a position of authority.

“My professional journey taught me that leading with purpose means serving, not just practising law,” he says.

“Purpose, for me, is bridging that gap. It is choosing cases not just for their fee value, but for their impact value. At Mpakati Attorneys, we don’t just file papers, we fight for people who cannot fight for themselves.”

Building an institution with purpose

Mpakati Inc. provides legal and advisory services across several practice areas, in-cluding criminal law, labour law, commercial law, civil litigation, family law, immigration and forensic investigations.

The firm also offers services in fraud investigations, risk management, anti-bribery compliance and governance, reflecting Mpakati’s ambition to combine legal expertise with broader institutional accountability.

At the centre of its approach are five values: integrity, justice for the poor, accountability, Ubuntu and what Mpakati describes as “activist excellence”.

For him, these principles are inseparable from the challenge of building a sustainable black-owned business in a competitive legal environment.

“Ownership is not just business, it is freedom,” he says.

“For us as black people, building sustain-able institutions means we control the narrative, create jobs and wealth for the next generation, and build something that outlives the founder.”

This long-term perspective influences how he approaches the development of the firm. Rather than creating a practice dependent entirely on its founder, he wants to establish an institution capable of con-tinuing its work for decades.

“From Cofimvaba to Pretoria, that is what I am trying to build, a black-owned firm that will still be fighting for ordinary people 50 years from now.”

Confronting barriers to transformation

Despite progress in transforming South Africa’s legal profession, Mpakati believes black legal practitioners and entrepreneurs continue to face significant structural obstacles.

Access to major legal briefs remains a particular concern. He argues that estab-lished firms continue to receive a disproportionate share of work from large clients, while black-owned practices are often confined to smaller matters or oppor-tunities associated with fronting.

Financial pressures create further challenges. Running a legal practice requires capital, yet smaller firms can struggle to secure funding and manage cash flow when clients delay payment.

Compliance requirements also place con-siderable demands on emerging practices, which must meet the same professional, tax and regulatory obligations as larger compet-itors without necess-arily having comparable administrative resources.

Mpakati identifies pricing pressure, limited professional networks and restricted access to mentorship as additional barriers.

There is also the challenge of recon-ciling commercial sustainability with a commitment to serving disadvantaged communities.

For Mpakati, addressing these obstacles requires more than individual determ-ination. It also requires an environment in which black-owned firms can access mean-ingful opportunities, develop profes-sional networks and build sustainable institutions.

Lessons in resilience and leadership

Establishing his own practice has reinforced the importance of balancing ambition with commercial discipline.

“Purpose inspires; systems grow,” Mpakati explains. “Passion for justice kept me going, but I had to build proper fin-ancial and compliance systems to keep the firm alive.”

Cash flow management, appropriate pricing and careful client selection have become important lessons in building a sustainable business.

“Not every client is your client,” he says, emphasising that the firm’s commitment to human rights and ethical conduct leaves no room for corruption or shortcuts.

He also believes that consist-ency is more valuable than talent alone. Sustained effort in legal practice, professional development and community engagement has helped establish the firm's identity.

Another important lesson is the need to invest in people.

“Build people, not just files. In-vesting in young black lawyers is how you build an institution that outlives the founder.”

This philosophy connects dir-ectly with his broader vision of economic transformation. Devel-oping younger professionals is not simply a staffing consid-eration, but part of creating opportunities and strengthening black ownership within the legal profession.

A legacy beyond the founder

Looking ahead, Mpakati wants the firm to become a sustainable, human rights-centred institution that combines legal services, governance and technology to fight corrup-tion and empower ordinary South Africans.

Training the next generation of black lawyers remains central to that ambition.

“My vision is to build a human rights-centred law firm that outlives its founder, a sustainable institution that combines law, governance and technology to fight corruption, empower ordinary people, and train the next generation of black lawyers,” he says.

“The goal is not just a law firm; it is a movement using law to transform society.”

His understanding of black excellence reflects the same determination to create lasting opportunities.

For Mpakati, excellence is not defined by professional titles, personal wealth or access to established institutions. It is about overcoming barriers, creating independent institutions and ensuring that others benefit from the opportunities created.

“True excellence is measured by how many doors you open behind you, how many young black lawyers you mentor, brief, and make partners.”

It is a philosophy rooted in his own journey, and one that continues to shape his ambitions for the future.

As he puts it, black excellence is about “being resilient, excellent, and unapologetically black in spaces that were never designed for us”.

For Mpakati, the ultimate measure of success will not simply be the growth of his legal practice, but whether the insti-tution he is building continues to advance justice, develop professionals and serve communities long after his own career has ended.

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