Meet Eric Pako, a quinquagenarian (person between 50 and 59 years old) who’s just bagged his childhood dream.
A delighted and animated Eric, who hails from Kimberly in the Northern Cape, beams with pride and talks incessantly about his latest achievement, an LLB degree from the University of South Africa.
He says he’s always been fascinated by standing in front of crowds and “facilitating”. “I have always had a passion of wanting to be a lawyer and I remembered my grandparents saying to a younger me that I’d make a good one,” says the new LLB graduate, whose car already has a personalised registration plate: ADV Pako GP.
Eric has just been admitted by the Gauteng Society of Advocates, where he’s doing his pupillage training, after which he’ll serve as a barrister in the higher courts of South Africa.
He still plans to study further, including for a Master’s degree in Human Rights Law. “That’s still in the pipeline, but my ultimate dream is to administer my own legal practice and practise full time as an attorney.”
Eric has a background in the financial services sector as a human resource manager, having cut his teeth at First National Bank (FNB), before being head hunted by the very first national lottery operator, Utingo Management.
He studied Human Resource Management, in which he holds a national Diploma, having majored in industrial relations management, training management and personnel services management. His other qualifications include a Masters Certificate in Training and Development from the then Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit (now UJ), and a certificate in Management Development with the Gordon Institute of Business Science.
It was by fluke, he says, that one of his customers at Utingo recommended him for an upcoming post at AIG, a multinational finance and insurance corporation as a Training and Development Manager. “What a fantastic environment it was for me.”
Eric went on to have a short stint at Prestasie Insurance Brokers, before moving to Munich Re of Africa, where he was charged with developing learning and development modules for emergent employees.
He quit his job, and dusted off his dream of studying for law in 2015, when he enrolled for four modules at UNISA. “When I start something I see it to finish,” he says, adding that he’s dedicated his life to studying.
Eric joined the City in October 2015, working for the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), with 19 years of experience in HR. He is currently on secondment to the Finance Department as a Legal Advisor. He relishes the opportunity, and hopes to be absorbed there in order to remain in the legal filed.
Being in the legal fraternity makes Eric feel like he’s been given a new lease on life, particularly because he’s a father of three, Nthabiseng, Bakang and Modise-Joseph and is still ambitious. “I should’ve started studying when I was much younger, but I was too scared.”
The very difficult part of studying is the undergraduate phase, he says, but once you’re done, everything is much easier. “The motivation is there, the plan was for an LLB, and now that I’ve got that, I’m planning to acquire an LLM, and who knows, perhaps even a PHD in Law, age is nothing but a number.”
Eric dreams of becoming a Judge of the High Court one day. “I have the momentum, and you’re never too old to study. I come from a family where education is key and I’ve always loved education and I am dedicated to what I do.”
He says he couldn’t have achieved his latest feat if he wasn’t dedicated to fitness. “I go to gym six days a week and because I was brought up by a very religious grandmother, I make sure come what may, I go to church every Sunday.”
