Maseru
Under the theme “Leading the future- our shared role in legal evolution, the Vodacom Legal Symposium and Technology brought together legal professionals, regulators and technology experts to address critical topics including technology and law, stakeholder engagement as a cornerstone for policy development and the role of alternative dispute resolution.
For the telecommunications company, this symposium is a strategic move to navigate challenges, build trust and showcase its role in the country’s digital future.
It acted as a provider of direct dialogue with stakeholders on critical, evolving issues such as data privacy, cybersecurity and financial regulations, helping the company mitigate risk and stay compliant.
Rethabile Hoohlo, the EHOD Legal and Compliance at Vodacom Lesotho, said as a telecommunications company, their focus extends beyond conventional success as they are intentional about including a deep commitment in terms of cultivating a culture that actively engages all their stakeholders.
The symposium, a milestone in the company’s legal department’s view, aimed at cultivating fund leadership while driving discussions on critical policy enhancement and technological developments that will define a shared future going forward.
Hoohlo set an alarming tone in a room half-filled with legal practitioners when she emphasised that Lesotho’s legal profession was very old yet it now intersects with humanity’s newest and most dynamic creation- digital technology.
To move with the times, Hoohlo encouraged relevance, highlighting the need for a robust and supportive legal framework.
According to the telecommunications legal expert, the Social Electronic Transactions and Electronic Comments Bill of 2013, which was revised in 2020, is one of the few important legislations to consider if the goal is to accept change and ignore the risk of irrelevance.
The symposium’s discussions were shaped around the adoption of innovative tools, AI-driven discovery and smart contracts to digital case-managing systems; changes that are entrusted to enhance efficiency, ensure transparency and expand access to justice.
“To resist this evolution is to risk failure. To embrace it, on the other hand, is to redefine the very proposition of physical compassion in a digital economy,” Hoohlo said.
The formulation of law and policy, in Hoohlo’s opinion, can no longer be a siloed exercise and the velocity of technological change demands a new model of collaborative governance. As a result, she urged the championing of inclusive dialogue that will encourage robust alliances between the government, the private sector and social awareness.
Mohale Ralebitso, the telecommunications company CEO, added to these sentiments, saying generations to come are already at a high risk of being chipped by the stream of technology, thus emphasising the need to change.
He made an example of AI, saying lawyers and people who are in the protection of intellectual property know the challenge the robot is posing as there are bots used to consolidate, re-digest and re-cut things.
He reminded law practitioners to be mindful of the necessity to maintain integrity as they adapt and adopt the use of AI to engage matters of the law as that is what people today are doing in their work.
“This is important because we have to, with your knowledge, plug in the young people into being able to engage the challenges of our time, but to do so in a manner that respects that there are frameworks to observe,” Ralebitso reminded.
He, however, said if lawyers are going to be at the convergence of technology and what the law requires of them, they should ensure they are active architects of research’s future and not merely the people who are the handbrakes in it.
The President of the Law Society of Lesotho, a representative of the legal fraternity in the country, Advocate Lintle Tuke, commended Vodacom Lesotho for the symposium, applauding it for not just being a meeting of minds but a gathering of custodians.
The thoughtful gesture, Tuke said, was a humble reminder that technology and law are not rivals, “in fact, they are dancing partners.”
He assured the company that, as the legal fraternity of Lesotho, they were ready to partner up with other stakeholders to build a stronger framework for data protection and cyber resilience.
He reminded lawyers present of their importance to society, that when society moves into chaos, they are the first line of defence, “the bedrock upon which justice, accountability and responsibility can thrive.”
“So as we lead the future and embrace technology, may we also protect that which Dick the Butcher feared the most; a profession that defends justice even when it is inconvenient,” Advocate Tuke exclaimed.
