When the legal community unites, future lawyers stand to thrive! This is what is happening at the University of the Western Cape, where a recent textbook drive has improved access to educational resources and empowered UWC law students.
Western Cape, South Africa (31 July 2026) – The university experience is different for everyone, but one thing many students will agree on is that textbooks are expensive.
For many law students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), lacking personal textbooks means navigating tight library hours, competing for limited short-term loans, or dealing with unreliable internet access and data constraints when trying to use online materials.
To help alleviate these pressures and directly support students, ProBono.Org, the Cape Town Attorneys Association, and the Bar Council of South Africa came together to organise a targeted textbook drive. Thanks to generous contributions from members of the legal profession, the collected textbooks were donated to the UWC Faculty of Law at the end of July 2026.
The drive was prompted by the continued financial barriers many students face in accessing prescribed and recommended textbooks. It also reinforced the vital role that reading, critical thinking, and engagement with authoritative legal sources play in shaping the next generation of legal professionals.
UWC Lecturer and Law Faculty Community Engagement Coordinator, Cherith Sanger, further noted that while students could access information through online platforms and artificial intelligence (AI), these tools could not replace the value of engaging with legal texts in depth.
For Sanger, this makes initiatives such as the textbook drive an important contribution to educational access.
The initiative also provided an opportunity to consider the changing role of textbooks in the age of AI.
Sanger said AI could be a powerful tool, particularly for those who already have a strong understanding of their field. However, she cautioned against students relying on AI as their primary source of legal information.
“I am concerned when it comes to young people and students who are learning the law and don’t necessarily know the intricacies of the law,” she said.
Check My Beat Takes Heart Health Screening to Johannesburg Taxi Rank
Comrades Charity Drive Raises More Than R2.2 Million for CHOCThe concern, she explained, is that students could use AI to summarise complex legal concepts and judgments without developing a deeper understanding of the law or the reasoning behind a court’s decision. For Sanger, reading a full judgment was therefore an important part of legal education.
These views were shared by final-year LLB student Sinoyolo Ngantweni, who represented the Law Students’ Faculty Representative Committee, who said textbooks remain important despite the rise of digital resources.
“Hard-copy textbooks promote a culture of reading that legal practitioners should embody,” said Ngantweni.
However, he acknowledged that textbooks are expensive, making initiatives such as the recent drive to improve access to them particularly important.
Sources: University of the Western Cape
Don’t ever miss the Good Things. Download the Good Things Guy App now on Apple or Google.
Do you have something to add to this story? Please share it in the comments or follow GoodThingsGuy on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with good news as it happens, or share your good news with us by clicking here or click the link below to listen to the Good Things Guy Podcast with Brent Lindeque – South Africa’s very own Good Things Guy. He’s on a mission to change what the world pays attention to, and he truly believes there’s good news around us. In the Good Things Guy podcast, you’ll meet these everyday heroes and hear their incredible stories:
Or catch an episode of Good Things with Brent Lindeque or our Weekly Top 5 below. The videos here are always changing, updated with the latest episodes from these two shows. Both are part of Good Things TV, created to bring South Africans balance at a time when the news can feel overwhelmingly negative. Our goal is simple: to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in our country – and to leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.
by 
