13 February 1968, Moletši, Polokwane, Limpopo Province
Two children
Education:
Matric: Hwiti High School, Limpopo Province
B. Proc (1992) University of the North, Limpopo Province
LLB (2021) University of South Africa
Professional History:
Articles of Clerkship, Pretoria: 1992 - 1993
Practising Attorney, Pretoria: 1994 - 2007
Acting Judge: High Court, Transvaal Provincial Division: 2007
Judge: High Court Gauteng Division: August 2009 - May 2018
Acting Judge: Lesotho High Court, Constitutional Division: April 2015
Acting Judge: Labour Appeal Court: June – November 2015
Acting Judge: Supreme Court of Appeal: June - November 2016
Acting Judge: Supreme Court of Appeal: October 2017 - May 2018
Judge of Appeal: 1 June 2018 to date.
Acting Judge: Constitutional Court: 01 February 2023 - 31 May 2023
Publications:
Author of the following lecture notes for aspirant and newly appointed judges:
Managing the Unopposed Motion Court, 2014;
National Credit Act: A Practical Approach, 2014;
Managing the Opposed Motion Court, 2016;
Aspects of Constitutional Litigation, 2016 and
Practical aspects on Judgment Writing, 2020.
Awards and Honours:
Most Inspiring Lecturer, Legal Education and Development, Pretoria Law School, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2013.
Certificate of Recognition by Law Society of the Northern Provinces for contribution to Judicial Skills Training for aspirant judges: August 2015.
Certificate of Appreciation by Law Society of South Africa for contribution in the training of candidate attorneys and development of School for Legal Practice in South Africa: September 2015.
Other Activities:
Lecturer: Legal Education and Development (LEAD) Pretoria Law School, 2006 – 2018.
Member: Disciplinary Committee: Law Society of the Northern Provinces: 2006–2007.
Chairperson: Loreto School Parents Association, Queenswood, Pretoria: 2006–2008.
Member: Board of Governors: Loreto School, Queenswood, Pretoria: 2009-2021.
Member and Lecturer: Black Lawyers Association-Legal Education Centre (BLA-LEC): 2010 to date.
Chancellor: Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Diocese of Pretoria: 2012 to date.
Guest Lecturer: Pretoria Society of Advocates on the National Credit Act: 2012–2019.
Lecturer: Aspirant Judges (Law Society of the Northern Provinces): 2014 - 2018.
Lecturer: Aspirant Judges: South African Judicial Education Institute (SAJEI): 2018 to date.
Member: Editorial Committee of South African Institute of Judicial Education Journal: 2016 to date.
Convener: Research and Publications Committee of the BLA-LEC: 2018 to date.
Member: Judicial Conduct Committee: 2019 to date.
Member: Advisory Board of Judges, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO): 2020 to date
Personal
26 October 1957, Phokeng, Rustenberg, North-West
Husband: Christopher Molefe
Two children
Education
Matric: Moroka High School, Thaba Nchu
B Proc (1982) University of the North
LLB (1984) University of the North
Professional History
Lecturer; University of the North West: 1984 – 1985
Candidate Attorney; Edward Nathan and Fredland Inc Attorneys: 1986 – 1987
Admitted Attorney; Transvaal High Court: 1987
Founding & Executive Director; Molefe-Dlepu Inc Attorneys: 1988 – 2013
Acting Judge; Free State High Court: 2012
Acting Judge; Gauteng High Court: 2012
Judge; Gauteng High Court: 2013
Acting Judge; Land Claims Court: 2017 - 2020
Acting Judge President; Land Claims: 2019
Acting Judge; Labour Appeal Court: 2021
Acting Judge; Supreme Court of Appeal: 1 June 2021 – 30 November 2021; 05 January 2022 - 31 March 2022; 1 June 2022 - 30 September 2022.
Judge; Supreme Court of Appeal: 1 December 2022
Other Activities
Member; Law Society of the Northern Provinces
Member; Black Lawyers Association
Regional Director: Johannesburg Region; Lawyers for Human Rights: 1988 – 1992
Deputy Chairperson; Gauteng Development Appeal Tribunal: 2003 – 2009
Chairperson; Transnet Group Tender Board: 2004 – 2009
Chairperson; Transnet Housing Tender Board: 2004 – 2009
Lecturer; Law Society School of Law
Senior Examiner; Attorneys Admission Examination
Member (Disciplinary Committee); Law Society of Transvaal
Chairperson; Spoornet Commission of Enquiry (into the Fatal Incidents)
Chairperson; Eskom Corporate Formal Investigation Committees (investigating Occupational Health and Safety Act incidents and Department of Labour formal enquiries)
Mediator; Independent Mediation Service of South Africa (IMSSA)
Assessor; Criminal Courts
Chairperson; Appeal Committee of the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority
Courses Completed
Risk Management – International Risk Control Academy
Judicial Training Programme

‘Human Rights Litigation’ in Introduction to Human Rights Law (2ed), A Govindjee (ed), 2016 LexisNexis
‘Rights Activism as a Key to Transformative Jurisprudence’ in South Africa’s Constitution at 21, J Meiring (ed), 2017 Penguin Random House
‘Ethics as a Driver of Transformation of the Legal Profession’, SAJEJ, Vol 2, Issue 1, (2019)
‘Covid 19 and the Courts: Justice in Lockdown’ (2020) 33.2 Advocate 34 (August 2020)
Activities:
Instructor in Constitutional Litigation: LSSA Practical Legal School 1998 – 2005
Pupilage Coordinator (Eastern Cape) 2004 – 2006
Independent Trial Observer obo International Bar Association, Zimbabwe, 2006
Chairperson, Port Elizabeth Society of Advocates 2006 – 2008
Chairperson, Eastern Cape Society of Advocates 2007
Pupilage Coordinator for General Council of the Bar 2009 - 2011
Faculty Advisory Board for the Review of the LLB Curriculum, Nelson Mandela University 2009 – 2011
External Examiner in Constitutional and Administrative Law, Rhodes University, 1998 to present
Adjunct Professor in Public Law, Nelson Mandela University 2008 – to present
Member of the Faculty of Advocacy Trainers, General Council of the Bar
Mediation Training for South African Judges, Utah United States of America, October 2019 hosted by University of Utah and Brigham Young University
Webinar on Judicial Responses to Covid 19 Pandemic, hosted by Nelson Mandela University, May 2020
Access to Justice and Online Courts, panel hosted by Hans Seidel Foundation and UCT Democratic Governance and Rights Unit, April 2021
Instructor on SAJEI training seminars for judicial officers on Virtual Courts, Motion Court Procedure and Mediation – 2020, 2021 and 2022
The Future of Judicial Digital Transformation in Africa and Adoption of All Technology for Automated Judicial Decision Making, African Judges Panel During Africa Legal Innovation Week 2022, Hosted by The Lawyers Hub, Kenya, November 2022.
Personal
22 October 1958, Cape Town
Wife: Susan Rogers
No children
Education
Matric: Wynberg Boys High School, Cape Town
BA Cum Laude (1982) University of Cape Town
BA Hons, Classics (First Class) (1983) University of Cape Town
LLB Magna Cum Laude (1985) University of Cape Town
Professional History
Articled clerk; Sonnenberg Hoffmann & Galombik, Cape Town: 1986-1987
Pupillage at the Cape Bar: Jan-July 1988
Advocate at the Cape Bar:1988-2012
Awarded status of senior counsel: 1999
Treasurer, honorary secretary and member of the Cape Bar Council: 1994-1998; 2000-2003
Chairperson of the Cape Bar Council: 2004-2005
Chairperson of tribunals established in terms of s 15K of the Pension Funds Act
Acting Judge; Western Cape High Court: various periods in 2001, 2003, 2009 and 2011
Acting Judge; Labour Court: fourth term 2002
Judge; Western Cape High Court: since 2013
Acting Judge of Appeal; Competition Appeal Court: 2015-2016
Judge of Appeal; Competition Appeal Court: since 2017
Publications, Awards, Honours and Other Activities
‘The Action of the Disappointed Beneficiary (1986) 103 SALJ 683.
When All Else has Failed: Illegal Strikes, Ultimatums and Mass Dismissals 1991 (12) ILJ 1171 (co-authored with Jeremy Gauntlett)
Silk: Why it should go Advocate (December 2006) 26
High Fees and Dubious Practices Advocate (April 2012) 40
The Ethics of the Hopeless Case Advocate (December 2017) 46.
To Give and to Gain: Judicial involvement in advocacy training SAJEJ Vol 1(1) 2018.
Lawyers in Turmoil: The Johannesburg Conspiracy of 1895 (Stormberg, 2020)
Honorary Judicial Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)
President:
- President M M L Maya
Deputy Judge President:
- Deputy President X M Petse
Judges:
- Justice M S Navsa
- Justice V M Ponnan
- Justice A Cachalia
- Justice M J D Wallis
- Justice H Saldulker
- Justice K G B Swain
- Justice B H Mbha
- Justice D H Zondi
- Justice N Dambuza
- Justice C H G Van der Merwe
- Justice M B Molemela
- Justice T M Makgoka
- Justice A Schippers
- Justice F E Mokgohloa
- Justice C M Plasket
- Justice D V Dlodlo
- Justice C H Nicholls
- Justice Y T Mbatha
Acting Judges:
- Mojapelo P M D
- Ledwaba A P
- Koen P A
- Gorven T R
- Eksteen J W
Subcategories
MAYA, MANDISA MURIEL LINDELWA
Personal:
20 March 1964, St Cuthberts, Tsolo, Eastern Cape
Husband: Dabulamanzi Mlokoti
Three children
Education:
Matric: St Johns College, Mthatha
B Proc (1986) University of Transkei
LLB (1988) University of Natal, Durban
LLM (1990) Duke University, NC, USA
Professional History:
Attorney’s clerk; Dazana Mafungo Inc, Mthatha: 1987-1988
Court Interpreter and Prosecutor; Magistrates’ Court, Mthatha: 1988-1989
Legal Policy Counsel & Lobbyist; Women’s 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
Acting Judge; Constitutional Court, January to May 2011
Acting Judge; Supreme Court of Namibia: 2008; Appeal Court, Lesotho: 2015
Deputy President, Supreme Court of Appeal: 2015
Acting President, Supreme Court of Appeal: 2016 - 22 May 2017
President, Supreme Court of Appeal: June 2017
Publications, Awards, Honours and Other Activities:
Fulbright Scholarship: 1989-1990
Georgetown University Law & Gender Fellowship Program: 1990
Commonwealth Foundation Fellowship: 2002
Chairperson; South African Law Reform Commission: 2013
Council Member; South African Judicial Education Institute: 2015
Founding Member; South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges and its Deputy President in the 2008 -2010 term
Recipient of the South African Women Lawyers Association History & Icon Programme: 2012
Board Member; South African Journal on Human Rights: 2014
Member; Commonwealth Association of Law Reform Commissions: 2015
Patron; Lawyers Against Violence: 2013