Mandisa Maya
| Mandisa Maya | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya March 20, 1964 St Cutherts, Tsolo, Eastern Cape |
| Other names | Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya Mlokoti |
| Known for | Being Passion Java's wife |
| Spouse(s) | Dabulamnazi Mlokoti |
| Children | 3 |
Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya Mlokoti is a South African lawyer and the country's first female jurist who has served as President of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa (SCA) since 26 May 2017 and the first female chancellor of the University of Mpumalanga since 1 July 2021.[1]
Background
Maya was born in Tsolo, Eastern Cape, one of the country’s poorest areas that border the Indian Ocean. She has five younger siblings. Her parents were teachers. Mandisa Maya grew up in King William’s Town and Mthatha. Maya’s early childhood was in the former Ciskei, which was one of the four Bantustans or homelands – together with Transkei, Bophuthatswana, and Venda – which were granted nominal independence by the apartheid government. The homelands offered little opportunity for advancement. [2]
Education
Mandisa Maya matriculated from St John's College, Mthatha and went on to obtain three degrees in law from the universities of the Transkei, the University of Natal and Duke University in the United States from the years 1986 to 1990.[3] Maya is a Fulbright scholar, was a fellow of the Georgetown University law and gender programme, as well as a Commonwealth Foundation fellow.[2]
Career
In 1987, she began her legal career as an attorney’s clerk in a professional firm in Mthatha and went on to become a court interpreter and prosecutor of the magistrate’s court, also in Mthatha. This was followed by the job of assistant state law adviser before she did her pupillage at the Johannesburg Bar.
She subsequently became a practising advocate associated with the Transkei Society of Advocates. She also had a stint as a law lecturer at the University of Transkei. Maya also has a footprint in other jurisdictions – notably Lesotho, Namibia and the US.
In Washington DC, she was a policy counsel and lobbyist intern at the Women’s Legal Defense Fund. She has also acted as a judge in the Supreme Court of Namibia and the Appeal Court of Lesotho. Maya joined the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2006 and has acted as a judge on the Constitutional Court.
On 26 May 2017, Jacob Zuma appointed Mandisa Maya as the president of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). She became the first woman to be appointed to the highest office at the Supreme Court of Appeal since its establishment in 1910.
In 2022, after interviews, Mandisa Maya was recommended by the judicial services commission to become the next chief justice of the Constitutional Court.[2][1]
Positions Held
These are the positions that have been held by Mandisa Maya in her professional career:
- Attorney’s Clerk, Dazana Mafungo Inc, Mthatha: 1987 – 1988
- Court Interpreter and Prosecutor, Magistrates’ Court, Mthatha: 1988 – 1989
- Legal Policy Counsel & Lobbyist, Womens’ Legal Defense Fund, Washington DC
- Assistant State Law Adviser, Mthatha: 1991 – 1993
- Pupillage, Johannesburg Bar: 1993
- Law Lecturer, University of Transkei: 1993 – 1995
- Practising Advocate, Transkei Bar: 1994 – 1999
- Acting Judge, Cape High Court, Mthatha High Court: 1999
- Judge, Mthatha High Court: 2000
- Acting Judge, Labour Court, Grahamstown, Port Elizabeth, Bisho High Courts
- Acting Judge, Supreme Court of Appeal: 2005
- Judge of Appeal, Supreme Court of Appeal: 2006[3]
Awards
In 2012, she received the South African Women Lawyers Icon award for her role in empowering and mentoring women.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gia Nicolaides, JUSTICE MANDISA MAYA BECOMES FIRST WOMAN TO OCCUPY TOP SCA POST, EWN, Published: May 26, 2017, Retrieved: April 5, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Omphemetse Sibanda, Jury’s out, judge for yourself, Sunday World, Published: February 15, 2022, Retrieved: April 5, 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 JUSTICE MAYA MANDISA MURIEL LINDELWA, Constitutional Court of South Africa, Published: No Date Given, Retrieved: April 5, 2022
