Trustees and Staff

Diverse Team to Meet Diverse Needs

The LAC works with a skilled and professional team of people passionate about human rights. The multi-functional team is comprised of people with extensive knowledge in the law, education, research and advocacy. Together the work towards creating and maintaining a human rights culture in Namibia.

Trustees

The Trustees of the Legal Assistance Trust (LAT) oversee the work of the Legal Assistance Centre. Most of the trustees have served on the LAT for several years.

• Clement Daniels – Chairperson of the Legal Assistance Trust
  Mr. Daniels served as the director from 2000 until May 2004 when he stepped down as director. He was immediately appointed as Trustee to the Board of the Legal Assistance Trust in May 2004. He joined the organization in 1988 as a paralegal and in 1991 temporarily left the LAC to complete his post-graduate studies at the University of Western Cape. He returned to the LAC in 1993 for his articles and was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1996. He focused primarily on human rights and labour cases while practicing at the LAC. Due to his interest in management and his leadership skills he was appointed as Director of the LAC with effect from 1 January 2000. After Clement stepped down as the director of the LAC, he opened his own law firm specializing in labour law.
• Tangeni Amupadhi – Journalist
• Norman Tjombe -Legal Practitioner
  Mr Tjombe served as a Director from July 2004  to February 2010.
  Before then, Norman was the Coordinator and lawyer for the LAC’s Land, Environment and Development Project (LEAD).  He studied law at the University of the Western Cape with an LAC Scholarship, and used to work as a student volunteer at the LAC during university holidays. He completed his law studies in November 1996 when he graduated with B.Juris and LL.B degrees. He immediately started working at the LAC as a candidate lawyer and was admitted as a lawyer in 1999.
  This position he held until February 2010 after which he started working in private practice.
• Toni Hancox -Ex-officio Trustee
  Mrs Toni Hancox was appointed the Co-ordinator of the Human Rights and Constitutional Unit in August 2000 after she worked in private practice and for the government attorneys while qualifying as a legal practitioner via correspondence studies.  Toni is also admitted as a solicitor in England and is a qualified conveyancer.  In March 2010, Toni was appointed as the Director of the Legal Assistance Centre.  She also served on the Council of the Law Society in Namibia, as well as a Commissioner on the Law Reform and Development Commission and was a trustee for Nangof, the umbrella body for non-governmental organizations in Namibia.  Recently she obtained her Masters Degree in Human Rights through UNISA.
• Taamba Iithete – MD of BlackTurnkey Development and Project Managers
• Gladice Pickering

Directors and Co-ordinators

• Toni Hancox, Director (image)
• Corinna van Wyk, Co-ordinator, Land, Environment & Development Project
  Corinna holds an LLB from the University of Namibia and was admitted as a legal practitioner in 2007. She started at the LAC in 2010 as the project lawyer for the Aids Law Unit and became the Project Lawyer and Project Coordinator for the Social Justice Project in 2014 until 2019.  In January 2020 she took over as the coordinator of LEAD.

Gender, Research and Advocacy Project

Yolande Engelbrecht
Co-ordinator, Paralegal
Yolande joined GR&AP at the beginning of 2009, having worked at the Ministry of Justice for a number of years. Yolande takes the main responsibility for running workshops on behalf of the department as well as developing training programmes and providing information to clients. She has been promoted in October 2023 as Co-ordinator of GRAP.

Perri Caplan
Layout and design consultant

Celine Engelbrecht
Project Assistant
Celine started at the LAC during February 2018 as a voluntary intern. She then filled the position as receptionist in September until February 2019 and advanced to Project Assistant at GR&AP.
Her tasks at GR&AP include general admin work, scanning and electronic preparation of government gazettes and maintenance and distribution of publications.

Assens Siloka
Intern
Assens joined the LAC in August 2022 and holds a Diploma in Paralegal Studies from the University of Namibia, working towards finalizing his LLB Degree. His tasks at GR&AP include but are not limited to scanning and electronic preparation of government gazettes, research, drafting of reports to workshops and assisting in the screening of clients. He has a passion for Human Rights Law, believing in the indivisibility and interdependency in applying these rights.

Land, Environment and Development Project

Corinna van Wyk
Co-ordinator, Legal Practitioner
Corinna holds an LLB from the University of Namibia and was admitted as a legal practitioner in 2007.  She started at the LAC in 2010 as the project lawyer for the Aids Law Unit and became the Project Lawyer and Project Coordinator for the Social Justice Project in 2014 until 2019.
In January 2020 she took over as the coordinator of LEAD.

Grace Kapere
Paralegal, Screening Officer
Grace Kapere worked as the Project assistant for the Gender Research and Advocacy project of the LAC for 5 years where after she took a year break to attend to family matters.
She returned to the Legal Assistance Centre in January 2018 as the official paralegal at the Centre. She is responsible for screening, taking statements and renders advice to clients.

Chloe Brandt
Junior Legal Practitioner and Researcher
Chloe holds an LLB degree from Rhodes University and an MBA, specializing in HR management. She was recognised as one of the top 100 most employable graduates in South Africa by “ABSA Gradstar” in 2020, and she is a member of the Golden Key International Honorary Society for her excellent academic merit. Chloe is passionate about social justice and the empowerment of young people through mentorship and shared wisdom.
She joined the Land, Environment & Development Project (LEAD) during March 2023 and has been admitted to the High Court of Namibia in June 2023.

Sophie van Wyk
Project Assistant
Sophie has been with LAC since 1992 to date.  During her time at the LAC, she has worked in various departments and joined the LEAD Department in 2007.  She is passionate working with different communities.

Hans-Christian Mahnke
Paralegal & Public Outreach Officer
Christian is the holder of an MA in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin, Germany.  He joined the LEAD Department in 2018 focusing his work on wildlife legislation and environmental protection.  His prior work experience includes several NGOs in Namibia and West-Africa, all linked to projects including environmental best-practices.
His most recent positions were Cultural Desk Officer at the German Embassy (2008-2013) and as Political, Press, Scholarships and Project Officer at the British High Commission (2013-2018).
In parallel, he founded and managed the local section of the NGO AfricAvenir, which focuses on promoting an African Renaissance, for over ten years.
As a consultant to the LEAD Department since 2018, Christian is focused on the protection of wildlife and informed interventions by collecting necessary data on prosecutions.  He is currently engaged with the school outreach programme including personal interaction and coordinating the very successful comic competitions amongst schools.

Ben-Begbie Clench
Community Coordinating Consultant
Ben started working in Namibia with San communities in 2005 and went on to head the Working group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA), a San NGO, where he collaborated with LEAD.  He is now freelance, working with San communities, NGOs, governments and international organisations with indigenous peoples and local communities. Ben assists LEAD in various projects related to San land rights, Conservancies and national policy.

Social Justice Project

Administration