Image: Groep7Drukkers
About Nanze
Tonelia Monanze (Nanze) Els is currently a candidate attorney at CJ Willemse & Babinszky Attorneys.
Background
“I started with my studies in 2019 and had to do a Higher Certificate in Law first before I could begin with LLB in 2020. I earned a Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) from the University of South Africa in 2024. I started working at CJ Willemse & Babinszky Attorneys in Upington in 2021, as a personal assistant, where I am currently still employed as a candidate attorney.
I’m married and have three beautiful boys. My eldest is now 17, and my twins are 15 years old.”
Motivation for enrolling at the Gawie le Roux Institute of Law
“The truth is that I am not exactly a youngster anymore, and I want to complete my articles, pass my competency-based exam and apply for admission as an attorney as soon as possible.
What I learned during the 400-hour PVT programme was so much more than I ever expected. The gap between the academic theory which you learn during your studies and applying these legal principles in a real-world practical setting is rather extensive.”
On facing challenges
“In August 2024, I started to get an awful lot of migraine attacks during my exams, but I had to push through. My hands and legs began to tremble, and my handwriting changed quite drastically, because I could not hold my pen correctly. I went to Bloemfontein for an MRI scan, and was diagnosed with a 2.5 cm in diameter, non-malignant brain tumour.
I received my LLB degree in Bloemfontein on the 8th of October, flew to Johannesburg immediately afterwards, and on the 9th, I received a single radiation treatment of 45 minutes, to kill the growth of the tumour, as it is too dangerous to remove it surgically. I was compelled to lie on my back for a week.
I turned 42 that week. I’m still on cortisone treatment to prevent swelling on my brain after the intensive radiation, which the doctors said can last for up to six months.
I was already planning to do the Gawie le Roux PVT course before the tumour diagnosis and decided to still proceed with the course in February 2025. After intense stress from my workload, study load, having three teenage boys with hectic schedules, our guesthouse and the new occupant in my head, I experienced a relapse and one morning, I could almost not open my eyes. It felt like my head wanted to explode from the pressure of the swelling on my brain. The doctors increased my cortisone, and I got better and proceeded with the course.
I am a firm believer that you must never negotiate your worth with the devil, and when you decide to do something big, think about it for a while and make an informed decision about your choice.”
“But when you decide to do it, you must finish what you started, whatever it takes! I even had it tattooed on my arm while I underwent radiation.”
Ironman, Cancer, and Me
“In March 2018, four weeks before I was due to compete in the full Ironman in PE, for which I had been training full-time for a year at the time, I was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer at the age of 35. My boys were 10 and 8 years old at the time.
The doctors told me that I would have to be in Bloemfontein every second Friday for chemo treatment for three months, and when I was done with that, I would have to stay in Bloemfontein for five weeks for radiation treatment, which would be every day.
I did not feel sick at all and was super fit at that point. Of course, it felt like my world was collapsing, but I then made the best decision of my life, and that was to have the lump removed.
“On 22 March 2018, the lump was removed from my breast. On 15 April 2018, I successfully finished the Ironman without thinking about cancer once in 14 hours.”
A month later, I received my first chemo treatment in Bloemfontein.
I was terribly ill! All my hair fell out, and I was so weak that my husband, Pierre, sometimes had to feed me. I have gone from my highest high, an Ironman, to my lowest low, a chemo patient, in a matter of three months.
I received six chemo treatments, after which I stayed in Bloemfontein for five weeks to get radiation treatment every day. In Bloemfontein, I became extremely depressed. I drove home every Friday morning to be with my family, and then I had to say goodbye to crying boys again on Monday mornings and drive back to Bloemfontein. It broke my heart.
The only way I could think of to help myself was to write about my feelings every day. This later developed into a story that I believed could help other women who were in the same position as me.
Ironman, Cancer, and Me was printed and self-published in 2019. I'm very proud of it, because it has reached and helped more women and men than I could have ever imagined.”
What’s next?
“My plan is to successfully pass all four competency-based exam papers this August and to apply for admission as an attorney after that. I registered my articles in September 2024, and with the completion of the 400-hour GLR PVT School, I will be able to complete my articles in September 2025.
Just to keep things interesting, I will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in October 2025 in aid of breast cancer awareness, with the support of my sponsor Optimum Financial Group.”
Last updated on 2 July 2025.