From corner café to criminology: Varsha Patel’s journey to justice

Each year as graduation season approaches, the University of Cape Town (UCT)  honours a cohort of graduands who have made an impact on their field of research, the university, as well as their community. This year, Varsha Patel has been named as one of the inspirational graduands for achieving her Master of Laws (LLM) in Criminology, Law and Society.

Varsha will receive her LLM at graduation on Tuesday, 3 September. As with many students of the law, she was attracted to criminology to help create a more just society and help those who are most in need. For the inspirational graduand, this desire took root behind the counter in her parents’ corner café. “I grew up in the shop,” she said.

“Every morning I’d come into our shop on my way to school just as the bread was being delivered. I’d often overhear my father and the bread distributor talking about how the prices were going up, profits were being slashed and that life was getting more and more difficult for the ‘man on the street’.

“I remember an incident that occurred when I started operating the till to serve customers. A woman came up to the counter to buy bread. When I told her that the price of bread had increased, she realised that she didn’t have enough money and left the shop empty-handed.

“There are many reasons for the price of a product to go up, but the idea that companies would conspire to do this, thereby stealing from the most vulnerable among us, made me very angry.”

This is what drove Varsha to complete a minor dissertation focusing on the South African bread cartel that investigated the respective roles of and the relationships between the community, business and state sectors in regulating white-collar crime.

A legacy of love and learning

Aside from wanting to see bad actors brought to justice – and be prevented from committing these crimes in the first place – Varsha has always been inspired by her family. Ultimately, this is what drove her to pursue a career in legal academia.

“My father taught me about the value of hard work. He instilled in me the lesson that hard work is its own reward; that getting up in the morning and working to fulfil your purpose is the ultimate goal and that falling asleep at night with the satisfaction of having done a good day’s work is the ultimate reward,” she recalled.

“My mother instilled in me a love and an appreciation for creativity. She taught me that the simplest act in life can be elevated to an art. I carry both lessons into every endeavour that I undertake – from caring for a sick parent to writing an academic paper.

“I knew that to honour my parents, the life that they lived and the opportunities that they worked so hard to give me, I had to complete this degree.”

“My life to academic studies has taken many detours. I spent many years working alongside my father in the shop. I cared for my mother through her illnesses. Through it all, my desire to learn persisted. That led me to go back to university at the ripe old age of 32 and pursue BCom (economics and law) and LLB degrees and ultimately be admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa.

A few years later, while Varsha was completing her minor dissertation, her mother sadly developed dementia. This led to her mother’s passing during the course of her LLM, which was unfortunately followed a brief time later by the unexpected passing of her father. 

Varsha pointed out that the support and compassion of her community – at home and at UCT – as well as her vision to honour her parents helped her to navigate this challenging time.

“I knew that to honour my parents, the life that they lived and the opportunities that they worked so hard to give me, I had to complete this degree. Nobody ever achieves anything alone.

“I would not be graduating if not for my brother and my aunt, who is my only remaining ‘parent’ now, and, of course, my supervisor, Emeritus Professor Elrena van der Spuy. I’m very fortunate to be surrounded and supported by people that love me, care for me and want my success, including my parents, wherever they might be,” she said.

The power of purpose

Varsha is now embarking on a PhD in Criminology, investigating state capture. She noted that this has, in part, been propelled by her drive to serve.

“I often get stuck in my head. Thus, I take the focus off of myself and put it out towards the world. I’ve developed the practice of asking myself, ‘How can I serve?’ That question has brought me to teaching, it’s brought me to wanting a career in research and, most importantly, it’s given me the strength to follow my own, unconventional, path in life,” she said.

“I want to thank the Accelerated Transformation of the Academic Programme (ATAP) committee for their vote of confidence in me. I would not have been able to do this without their financial support. I also want to thank Associate Professors Kelley Moult, Irvin Kinnes and Cathy Powell for giving me opportunities at the Centre of Criminology and the Public Law Department within the Faculty of Law.”