After 14 years marked by the daily demands of motherhood, marriage, a full-time job, and relentless financial strain, Gillian van der Westhuizen has emerged from the heart of Manenberg not just as a survivor, but as an Admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa!
Manenberg, South Africa (13 November 2025) – Growing up in Manenberg, Gillian van der Westhuizen understood the general perception of education going only as far as obtaining a matric certificate. Studying further wasn’t even part of the conversation in her home or community.
“That was for ‘other people’. When you finished school, you went to work,” shares Gillian.
But that way of thinking was changed when she discovered that one of her friends was a student at the University of Western Cape.
“Seeing her made me think: ‘If she can do it, so can I.’
“Those days, you had to fill in an application form by hand and post it. I remember walking to the old post office with my granny. She paid 25c for the stamp, and we sent it off,” recalls Gillian on the first steps of taking hold of her future.
A few weeks later, Gillian received an acceptance letter to study law. At the time, she was working in the stockroom of a clothing retail store. As she prepared to start university, her excitement was short-lived when her parents told her they couldn’t afford the registration fee.
“I told myself I’d work, save up, and come back the next year.”
While working on that plan, another unexpected hurdle presented itself.
“A few months later, I found out I was pregnant with my daughter and my dream of university was gone. I kept working, moved up to Stockroom Supervisor, got married at 23, and had my son at 26.”
But her dream of studying law never faded. At 28, when her daughter was seven and her son two, Gillian decided it was time to revisit the dream she’d put on hold.
“I enrolled part-time at UNISA. By then, I was working at Sportsman’s Warehouse as Head of Receiving – studying before work, doing assignments after work, using my annual leave to write exams, and still being a wife and mother.”
When finances grew tight, Gillian unexpectedly found herself baking cakes to make ends meet.
“Friends started asking for cakes, and soon I had a small business. The baking paid for my studies,” she says.
She continued to progress at work. Her days mostly entailed waking up at 2am to study, bake through the night, go to work, and write exams the next day.
“By 2017, the baking had grown so much that I resigned to bake full-time and continued studying. Still, I struggled to get into the legal field. I had 13 years of retail experience but no legal background.
“In 2020, I had one last module to complete. Then COVID-19 hit. Everything shut down. I failed that final module three times before passing with a distinction,” she explains.
Gillian experienced more challenges when it came to securing a spot in a practical legal training course, as it was full due to restrictions caused by the pandemic. However, in January 2021, she got in, paid her way through and received her degree that same year.
“I was 38. My daughter was 17, my son 12. Then I found out I was pregnant again. A laat lammetjie, as they say.”
She admits that having a baby after all those years, while having to do her articles, wasn’t easy. But she kept pushing and put baking on hold.
“Nothing prepares you for articles. The long hours, the pressure, the exhaustion, the financial strain.
“There were days I cried quietly on the bus to work. I had to study for board exams, take care of my toddler, and still be a wife and mother.”
And just as she was fighting to get through each day. The grief of her nephew’s death nearly broke her.
But as Gillian says, God carried her.
In a beautiful culmination of years of grit and determination, the mother of three achieved a significant milestone in July: she completed her articles and successfully passed all four board exams, meeting every requirement along the way.
Fourteen years later, Gillain’s dream finally came to fruition. On 7 November 2025, she became an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa!
“Looking back, I see the hand of God in every part of my journey. People who helped me, encouraged me, paid fees, bought textbooks, and prayed with me,” she says.
Gillian may have failed several times, experienced discouragement, and even doubted herself more than once, but God never gave up on her, as she puts it.
She encourages children from underserved backgrounds to never limit themselves in going after the things they hope to achieve, even when hardships and challenges arise.
“Don’t let anyone, not even yourself, tell you that you can’t. You will fail. And that’s okay. You only truly fail when you stop trying.”
Gillian, you’re a force! Even when the hardest blows could have easily thrown you off course, you never forgot why you started. We are so proud of you and celebrate your well-deserved achievement. Here’s to embodying the spirit of defying the odds and to a prosperous legal journey ahead!
Sources: Gillian van der Westhuizen
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