Legal Counsel

About the Role

• Lesaka's Enterprise Division operates at the intersection of regulated payments and technology. Its products are built and distributed on software platforms - digital channels, APIs, integrations and the data infrastructure behind them - and the legal work follows accordingly. This is as much a technology law role as a payments law role, and the successful candidate will be expected to be genuinely interested in how the products work.
• The role attends to the day-to-day legal requirements arising from the Enterprise Division, under instruction from the division's Head of Legal and the management team, and works alongside the existing legal counsel across the Lesaka Group. It is a junior position, with structured support, supervision and mentorship as experience builds.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial and technology contracting

• Draft, review, comment on and assist in negotiating the agreements relevant to the conduct of the business - arrangements with suppliers, customers, distributors and business partners, and customer-facing terms and conditions.
• Technology contracting specifically: software licensing and SaaS, development and systems integration agreements, API and platform terms, cloud and hosting arrangements, data processing and information security schedules, service levels, and intellectual property ownership and licensing.
• Digital channel documentation - application, USSD and web terms of use, privacy notices, consent flows and electronic contracting mechanics.
• Interpret and advise on existing contractual arrangements across the commercial and technology estate.

Payments, risk and regulatory

• Advise on the legal and regulatory position applicable to the business within the National Payment System and support new product development from the design stage by assessing the regulatory perimeter early.
• Attend to data privacy in practice: POPIA compliance, cross-border transfer arrangements, data subject requests, and legal support when a security incident arises.
• Identify and assess legal risk across the products, platforms, processes and functions, develop practical mitigation strategies, and stay abreast of developments in the payments, technology, data and consumer frameworks.
• Assist with litigation, disputes and regulatory queries, including instructing and liaising with external counsel, and provide administration and other legal-related support to Lesaka ADP.

Qualifications and Experience

• A Bachelor of Laws LLB from an accredited university within South Africa.
• An admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa with at least 1 year post-admission experience, gained at a solid South African law firm, or in an in-house legal team.
• Experience drafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial agreements, with the appetite to be developed on more complex technology and payments transactions.
• Advantageous: knowledge of the frameworks applicable to the business - the National Payment System Act and applicable SARB directives and position papers; the Protection of Personal Information Act, Electronic Communications and Transactions Act and Cybercrimes Act; the Consumer Protection Act and National Credit Act; and the Financial Intelligence Centre Act and Companies Act.
• Advantageous: exposure to technology contracting, or a demonstrated aptitude for it. Candidates comfortable reading an integration flow or a product specification - and who can hold a credible conversation with an engineer or product manager - will have a distinct advantage.

Competencies

• A commercial approach rather than technical legalese - advice that enables a decision.
• Takes initiative: arrives with a proposed solution rather than a problem and follows through without being chased.
• Able to run routine matters from instruction to conclusion, with the judgement to know when to escalate, and self-directed in building an understanding of unfamiliar products and frameworks.
• Excellent analytical skills and impeccable attention to detail.
• Collaborates across product, engineering, operations, commercial and finance teams, and translates between technical and legal language in both directions.
• Organised, and able to prioritise a varied workload under pressure without dropping quality.

Closing Date 07 September 2026