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Mandisa Maya

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The Honourable
Mandisa Maya
Maya in chambers in Bloemfontein, 2015
6th Chief Justice of South Africa
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 September 2024
Appointed byCyril Ramaphosa
Preceded byRaymond Zondo
4th Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa
In office
1 September 2022 – 31 August 2024
Appointed byCyril Ramaphosa
Chief JusticeRaymond Zondo
Preceded byRaymond Zondo
3rd President of the Supreme Court of Appeal
In office
26 May 2017 – 31 August 2022
Appointed byJacob Zuma
DeputyXola Petse
Preceded byLex Mpati
Succeeded byMahube Molemela
4th Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa
In office
23 September 2015 – 1 September 2022
Appointed byJacob Zuma
PresidentLex Mpati
Preceded byKenneth Mthiyane
Succeeded byXola Petse
Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal
In office
June 2006 – 31 August 2022
Appointed byThabo Mbeki
Judge of the High Court
In office
1 May 2000 – June 2006
Appointed byThabo Mbeki
DivisionTranskei
Chancellor of the University of Mpumalanga
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 July 2021
Vice-ChancellorThoko Mayekiso
Preceded byCyril Ramaphosa
Personal details
Born
Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya

(1964-03-20) 20 March 1964 (age 60)
St Cuthbert's, Tsolo
Cape Province, South Africa
SpouseDabulamnazi Mlokoti
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Transkei (BProc)
University of Natal (LLB)
Duke University (LLM)

Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya (born 20 March 1964) is the Chief Justice of South Africa. She was formerly the President of the Supreme Court of Appeal from 2017 to 2022 before she was elevated to the position of Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa in September 2022. She joined the bench in May 2000 as a judge of the Transkei Division of the High Court of South Africa and was elevated to the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2006.

Born in the Eastern Cape, Maya began her legal career in the Transkei, working as a prosecutor and state law adviser until she was admitted as an advocate in 1994. President Thabo Mbeki appointed her to the Mthatha High Court in May 2000 and to the Supreme Court of Appeal in June 2006. In the appellate court, she was elevated to the deputy presidency in September 2015 and the presidency in May 2017, succeeding Lex Mpati in both positions. She was the first black woman to serve in the Supreme Court of Appeal, as well as the court's first woman deputy president and first woman president.

Maya was nominated unsuccessfully for elevation to the Constitutional Court in 2009 and 2012, and President Cyril Ramaphosa controversially declined to confirm her nomination as Chief Justice of South Africa in March 2022. In September 2022, however, Ramaphosa appointed her as the first woman Deputy Chief Justice, in which capacity she deputises Raymond Zondo. She was the president of the South African chapter of the International Association of Women Judges from 2018 to 2023, and she was appointed as the Chancellor of the University of Mpumalanga on 1 July 2021.

In July 2024, Ramaphosa appointed Maya as South Africa's first female Chief Justice, effective 1 September 2024.[1]

Early life and education

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Maya was born on 20 March 1964 in St Cuthbert's, a rural area of Tsolo in the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape.[2] She was the eldest of six children born to Sandile and Nombulelo Maya, who were both teachers.[3] Her home language was Xhosa.[4]

Her family moved to King William's Town in 1966 after her father got a job with Radio Bantu, and she attended school there until 1977, when, due to the disruptive effects of the Soweto uprising, she was sent to attend school in Mthatha.[5] She matriculated in 1981 at St John's College, Mthatha.[6]

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When Maya enrolled in the University of Transkei, she intended to register for a degree in medicine but was put off by a forensic medicine textbook that she happened to leaf through on registration day.[3] She studied towards a BProc instead, graduating in 1986.[2] Thereafter she attended the University of Natal, completing an LLB in 1988.[2] She also clerked at the Mthatha firm of Dazana Mafungo Inc. between 1987 and 1988, and after graduation she took up work at the magistrate's court in Mthatha, where she was a court interpreter and then a public prosecutor.[2][3]

In 1989, Maya moved to Durham, North Carolina to attend Duke University School of Law on a Fulbright Scholarship,[3] studying labour law, alternative dispute resolution, and constitutional law.[7] She later said that it was "mind-blowing" to leave apartheid-era South Africa for Duke.[5][8] After she graduated in 1990 with an LLM, she worked as policy counsel at the Women's Legal Defense Fund in Washington, D. C. from 1990 to 1991.[6]

Upon her return to South Africa, Maya was an assistant state law adviser in Mthatha from 1991 to 1993,[2] during which time she was also a part-time lecturer in law at the University of Transkei.[6] In 1993, she moved to Johannesburg to serve her pupillage, though she returned to the Transkei to practice after she was admitted as an advocate in 1994.[2][6] She practised at the Transkei Bar for five years. According to Maya, she struggled to get briefs during her early years as an advocate and her practice depended on referrals from friends, particularly Nambitha Dambuza.[9]

In 1999, she was appointed as an acting judge in the Mthatha High Court, the seat of the Transkei Division of the High Court of South Africa.[2] She later said that Dumisa Ntsebeza had encouraged her to join the bench.[10]

Transkei Division: 2000–2006

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On 1 May 2000, Maya joined the bench permanently as a judge of the Transkei Division.[6] She also served as an acting judge in the Labour Court, the Bhisho High Court (Ciskei Division), and the Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth High Courts (Eastern Cape Division).[2] In February 2005, she was appointed as an acting judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal, and she remained at that court in Bloemfontein for over a year, until she was elevated permanently the following year.[7]

Supreme Court of Appeal: 2006–2022

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On 12 May 2006, on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission, President Thabo Mbeki appointed Maya to a permanent seat in the Supreme Court of Appeal.[11] She took office in June 2006.[7] She was one of three women serving on the appellate bench at the time, the others being Judges Carole Lewis and Belinda van Heerden,[12] and the first black woman ever to gain appointment as a judge of appeal.[13] She later remembered that she had been refused entrance to the courthouse on her first day, by a gardener who thought she was lost, and she said that, among her colleagues on the bench, "There are those who ignored me and showed in subtle and not so subtle ways I had no place in being here."[14]

By the end of her tenure in the Supreme Court, Maya had over 200 reported judgments.[15] Her notable opinions included a dissent in Minister of Safety and Security v F: while the majority held that the state could not be held vicariously liable for a minor's rape by an off-duty police officer, Maya found otherwise, and the Constitutional Court upheld her dissent in 2012 in F v Minister of Safety and Security.[16] She was also noted for writing the court's unanimous judgment in AfriForum v Chairperson of the Council of the University of South Africa, a dispute about the language policy of the University of South Africa; it was the first recorded judgment of a superior court written in Xhosa. She said that it had been inspired by Justice Johan Froneman's judgments in his own home language, Afrikaans.[4][17] The judgment was upheld in the Constitutional Court in Chairperson of the Council of the University of South Africa v AfriForum.

While serving in the Supreme Court of Appeal, Maya was an acting judge in the Supreme Court of Namibia in 2008 and in the Lesotho Court of Appeal in 2015,[2] as well as in the Constitutional Court of South Africa from February to May 2012.[7] In the latter capacity, she wrote the Constitutional Court's majority judgment in Competition Commission v Loungefoam and Others. She was also the chairperson of the South African Law Reform Commission from 2013 to 2016.[2]

Nominations to the Constitutional Court

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During her first decade in the Supreme Court of Appeal, Maya was twice nominated unsuccessfully for appointment as a puisne judge of the Constitutional Court. She was first interviewed by the Judicial Service Commission in September 2009 as one of 24 candidates for four vacancies.[18] She was one of the seven candidates whom the Judicial Service Commission shortlisted after its hearings,[19] and Pierre de Vos viewed her as a strong candidate with a demonstrated "sensitivity for gender issues".[20] However, President Jacob Zuma declined to appoint her, instead confirming the appointments of Johan Froneman, Chris Jafta, Sisi Khampepe and Mogoeng Mogoeng.[21]

In May 2012, Maya was one of four candidates – alongside Raymond Zondo, Ronnie Bosielo, and Robert Nugent – nominated for the Constitutional Court seat vacated by Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo's retirement.[22] Maya had recently been an acting judge in the Constitutional Court, and several prominent gender rights organisations lobbied in support of her candidacy.[23][24] However, during her interview in Johannesburg in June, she "appeared nervous" and was subjected to stern questioning about judicial independence and the exercise of judicial restraint in reviewing executive action.[25][26] The Judicial Service Commission shortlisted all four candidates as suitable for appointment, but President Zuma elected to appoint Zondo.[27] When Justice Zak Yacoob's retirement was announced later in 2012, Maya declined a third nomination to stand for elevation to the Constitutional Court.[28]

Deputy Presidency

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In June 2015, Maya was President Zuma's sole nominee for appointment as Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, a position that had been vacated by Kenneth Mthiyane upon his retirement in 2014.[29] Following an interview in Johannesburg in July, the Judicial Service Commission recommended her as suitable for appointment.[30] Zuma confirmed her appointment on 23 September 2015, and she became the first woman to serve as the court's Deputy President.[31] When Supreme Court President Lex Mpati retired the following year, she stood in as acting president.[2]

Presidency

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The façade of the Supreme Court of Appeal courthouse in Bloemfontein, where Maya worked for 12 years

President Zuma announced in March 2017 that Maya was his sole nominee to succeed Mpati as Supreme Court President.[32] During and after her confirmation interview with the Judicial Service Commission in April, she was highly candid about what she described as the Supreme Court's "challenges", describing the court as "not the most collegial of courts" and its judges as afflicted with "superiority complexes and disrespect".[33] The Judicial Service Commission endorsed her appointment, which was confirmed by Zuma with immediate effect on 26 May 2017.[34][35]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Maya oversaw the Supreme Court's transition to virtual court hearings held through Microsoft Teams,[36][37] and she was generally viewed as a strong leader and capable administrator.[16][38] She later told the Judicial Service Commission that she had arranged for the appellate judges to attend a diversity seminar, over "vociferous opposition",[16] and judge of appeal Steven Majiedt said that the court had become more collegial under her leadership.[39]

Nomination as Chief Justice

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In October 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Maya was included on a longlist of eight candidates to succeed Mogoeng Mogoeng as Chief Justice of South Africa,[40][41] and the following month, he announced that he had shortlisted Maya and three others: Raymond Zondo, Mbuyiseli Madlanga, and Dunstan Mlambo.[42] The Judicial Service Commission considered Maya's candidacy during an interview on 2 February 2022,[15] which Maya opened with a lengthy address about the failure of judicial leadership to address sexism in the judiciary; among other things, she objected to the absence of formal policies on sexual harassment and maternity, recalling that, when she became the first serving judge to fall pregnant, the Department of Justice "simply did not know what to do with me".[43] She was asked at length about her own gender, and she cried when commissioner Sylvia Lucas congratulated her at length for "breaking the glass ceiling".[44]

The interview proceedings were controversial. Some commentators argued that Maya had been subjected to sexist treatment, with Rebecca Davis of the Daily Maverick pointing to commissioner Dali Mpofu's joke about having "spent a night" with Maya.[45] Other commentators, however, believed that she had been given preferential treatment, especially by Supreme Court Deputy President Xola Petse; they argued that she faced far fewer substantive and jurisprudential questions than did the other candidates.[46][47] After all four candidates were interviewed, the Judicial Service Commission announced that it would recommend Maya for appointment.[48]

However, the commission's recommendation was not binding, and in March, President Ramaphosa announced that, contrary to the recommendation, he would appoint Zondo as Chief Justice. He said that he intended to nominate Maya to succeed Zondo as Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa.[49]

In July 2024, Ramaphosa appointed Maya as Chief Justice, effective September 2024.[1]

Constitutional Court: 2022–present

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In May 2022, Maya accepted Ramaphosa's nomination to the position of Deputy Chief Justice.[50] After she was interviewed in June, the Judicial Service Commission endorsed the nomination,[9][51] and Ramaphosa announced on 25 July that she would be appointed to the position with effect from 1 September 2022.[52][53]

In February 2023, Zondo announced that Maya had been appointed to chair a new committee tasked with drafting a sexual harassment policy for the judiciary,[54] and in June 2023, she handed down judgment on behalf of a unanimous court in Ashebo v Minister of Home Affairs and Others, which blocked the deportation of an asylum seeker.[55]

International Association of Women Judges

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Maya was a founding member of the South African chapter of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) in 2002. She served as the chapter's deputy president from 2008 to 2010 and as its president from 2018 to 2023.[2] She was later elected as IAWJ's regional director for West and Southern Africa in 2021,[56] and as its vice president in 2023.[2]

Honours

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Maya was awarded honorary LLDs by Nelson Mandela University in 2018, Walter Sisulu University in 2019, and the University of Fort Hare in 2020.[2] In July 2021, she was appointed as the Chancellor of the University of Mpumalanga.[57]

Personal life

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Maya is married to Dabulamanzi Mlokoti, a businessman from Johannesburg,[2] and has three children.[2] Her daughter, Wela Mlokoti, clerked on the Constitutional Court in Chris Jafta's chambers and rose to public prominence for lodging a disciplinary complaint against Judge Fayeeza Kathree-Setiloane, who was acting in the Constitutional Court at the time.[58][59]

References

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  1. ^ a b Development, Department of Justice and Constitutional. "Ministry welcomes the appointment of Justice Mandisa Maya as Chief Justice, 25 Jul 2024". www.justice.gov.za. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Justice Maya Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa". Constitutional Court of South Africa. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d Tolsi, Niren (9 April 2017). "Newsmaker: Mandisa Maya making history". News24. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  4. ^ a b Thamm, Marianne (20 June 2022). "Speaking clearly in tongues: Judge Mandisa Maya's support of Afrikaans in her mother tongue, isiXhosa, a pioneering moment". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Wild Coast roots sustain top judge Mandisa Maya". Business Day. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e "New judges: Judge Mandisa Maya" (PDF). Advocate. 14 (1): 22. April 2001.
  7. ^ a b c d Johannesburg Bar Council (13 June 2012). "Judge Mandisa Maya: The Joburg Bar Council's assessment". PoliticsWeb. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Profile: Mandisa Maya LLM '90 Spring 2023". Duke Law Magazine. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  9. ^ a b Macupe, Bongekile (20 June 2022). "Mandisa Maya: 'Endorse me for Deputy Chief Justice job to push women up in the judiciary ladder'". City Press. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Chief justice race advances as Mandisa Maya ups the stakes". Business Day. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  11. ^ "T Mbeki confirms appointment of judges". South African Government. 12 May 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  12. ^ "SCA welcomes new woman judge". IOL. 23 May 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Profile: Constitutional Court Chief Justice candidate Mandisa Maya". SABC News. 30 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Sisters on the bench". The Mail & Guardian. 27 June 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  15. ^ a b "Chief justice interviews: Mandisa Maya". The Mail & Guardian. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  16. ^ a b c "JSC Candidates Judge Mandisa Maya". Judges Matter. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  17. ^ Macupe, Bongekile (26 June 2022). "Judgment question: Why Judge Mandisa Maya wrote in IsiXhosa". City Press. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  18. ^ "You be the judge". News24. 1 September 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  19. ^ "JSC names ConCourt shortlist". News24. 22 September 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  20. ^ de Vos, Pierre (23 September 2009). "Not a bad list – all things considered". Constitutionally Speaking. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  21. ^ Grootes, Stephen (2009). "Zuma gets 3 out of 4 right with Con Court appointments". EWN. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  22. ^ "Judges short-listed for ConCourt job". News24. 11 May 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  23. ^ "Concerns raised over ConCourt four". The Mail & Guardian. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  24. ^ "More women on the bench offer a better gender perspective". The Mail & Guardian. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  25. ^ "Hard punches and soft-peddling by JSC in Con Court interviews". The Mail & Guardian. 9 June 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  26. ^ "Judicial autonomy frightens the JSC". The Mail & Guardian. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  27. ^ "New Constitutional Court judge". De Rebus. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  28. ^ "JSC: A few good women needed". The Mail & Guardian. 30 November 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  29. ^ Wakefield, Adam (10 June 2015). "Judge candidates announced – and they're all women". News24. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  30. ^ Evans, Jenni (9 July 2015). "Zuma has his hands full with 4 ConCourt candidates, judicial row". News24. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  31. ^ "SCA gets first female deputy president". IOL. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  32. ^ Evans, Jenni (6 March 2017). "Judge Maya makes SCA history... again". News24. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  33. ^ "Race tensions on the SCA ripped open". The Mail & Guardian. 7 April 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  34. ^ "Zuma appoints Mandisa Maya as SCA president". News24. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  35. ^ "Judge Mandisa Maya is new president of the Supreme Court of Appeal". The Times. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  36. ^ "SCA successfully holds court proceeding via online video platform". De Rebus. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  37. ^ "SA's next chief justice: The case for each contender". The Mail & Guardian. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  38. ^ Maughan, Karyn (20 November 2021). "Meet the nominees for SA's next chief justice: SCA President Judge Mandisa Maya". News24. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  39. ^ "SCA tensions dominate at interviews". The Mail & Guardian. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  40. ^ "8 candidates nominated for chief justice post, including Zondo, Maya and Mlambo". News24. 4 October 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  41. ^ "And then there were six: Ramaphosa fails to release shortlist for chief justice". The Mail & Guardian. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  42. ^ "Zondo, Maya, Mlambo and Madlanga shortlisted for chief justice". The Mail & Guardian. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  43. ^ Chabalala, Jeanette (2 February 2022). "Chief Justice interviews: Mandisa Maya hits out at judiciary's lack of a sexual harassment policy". News24. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  44. ^ Macupe, Bongekile (2 February 2022). "Chief Justice interviews: 'There has never been a shortage of women judges to lead' – Maya". City Press. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  45. ^ Sibanda, Omphemetse S. (6 February 2022). "JSC choice of Justice Maya for top post: Women judges still evoke hostility". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  46. ^ Balthazar, Professor (3 February 2022). "Judicial Service Commission — unfit for constitutional purpose". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  47. ^ "Why is the JSC's 'autocratic legalism' faction pushing Mandisa Maya so badly?". News24. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  48. ^ "JSC recommends Mandisa Maya for chief justice". The Mail & Guardian. 5 February 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  49. ^ "Zondo named chief justice". The Mail & Guardian. 10 March 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  50. ^ "Ramaphosa nominates Maya as deputy chief justice". The Mail & Guardian. 4 May 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  51. ^ Mafolo, Karabo (20 June 2022). "Mandisa Maya set to become South Africa's first female Deputy Chief Justice". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  52. ^ Chabalala, Jeanette (25 July 2022). "It's official: Justice Mandisa Maya appointed deputy chief justice". News24. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  53. ^ "Ramaphosa appoints Mandisa Maya as deputy chief justice". The Mail & Guardian. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  54. ^ "Work to be done: Maya heading committee drawing up anti-sexual harassment policy". The Mail & Guardian. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  55. ^ Hawker, Dianne (28 December 2023). "From refugee rights to tax record transparency, the Constitutional Court had a busy year — here are some significant judgments". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  56. ^ "Justice Maya elected Regional Director for West and Southern Africa of the International Association of Women Judges". De Rebus. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  57. ^ "Justice Mandisa Maya is the new Chancellor of UMP". The Mail & Guardian. 26 July 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  58. ^ Rabkin, Franny (5 April 2019). "Constitutional Court interviews turn he-said-she-said". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  59. ^ "High court judge should apologise to clerk for wrongly implying mistake". Sunday Times. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
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