Nolwazi Penelope Mabindla-Boqwana (born 13 January 1973) is a South African

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the Supreme Court of Appeal. Before she joined the Supreme Court in July 2021, she was a judge in the

Western Cape High Court The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over th ...

between 2013 and 2021. She has additionally served on the Competition Appeal Court since January 2017. Before entering the judiciary, she practiced as an attorney in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

with a specialty in

labour law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...

Early life and education

Mabindla-Boqwana was born on 13 January 1973 in Humansdorp in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

. She matriculated at Khwezi Lomso Comprehensive School in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

and attended the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

, where she completed a BProc in 1996 and an

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the China, People's Republic ...

in 1998. Later, in 2002, she completed a management development programme at the

Gordon Institute of Business Science Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS Business School) is a business school in South Africa and an affiliate of the University of Pretoria. It is located in the heart of Illovo, Johannesburg, close to the Sandton financial and commercial bu ...

Career as an attorney

After completing her articles of clerkship at Deneys Reitz in Johannesburg, Mabindla-Boqwana was admitted as an attorney of the

High Court of South Africa The High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law in South Africa. It is divided into nine provincial divisions, some of which sit in more than one location. Each High Court division has general jurisdiction over a defined geographical ...

in September 1998. She went on to a brief stint as an attorney at Sampson Okes Higgins in Sandton between 1998 and 1999 before, in 2000, she began a five-year stint as internal counsel for

at AngloGold Ashanti; in the latter capacity, she also represented AngloGold Ashanti at the Chamber of Mines. Between 2005 and 2007, Mabindla-Boqwana took a hiatus from legal practice to run two businesses, Nolwazi Investment Holdings (trading as Lwazi Consulting) and Hluma Business and Labour Services. She returned to law in 2008 as a director at Thipa Incorporated Attorneys, where she worked for the next five years, still focusing on labour law. In her later years at Thipa, she accepted acting positions in the judiciary: she was an acting judge in the Labour Court on three occasions between October 2011 and December 2012, and after that she was an acting judge in the

on four occasions throughout 2013.

Western Cape High Court: 2013–2021

In October 2013, Mabindla-Boqwana was one of four candidates shortlisted and interviewed for a single permanent position on the Western Cape High Court. After the interviews, the Judicial Service Commission recommended Mabindla-Boqwana for appointment, and President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

appointed her to the position with effect from 2 December 2013. Among other influential decisions, Mabindla-Boqwana wrote the court's majority opinion in a judgment which ordered the government to recognise and regulate Islamic marriages; the decision was upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeal and ultimately by the Constitutional Court in '' Women's Legal Centre Trust v President''. Also largely affirmed by the Constitutional Court was Mabindla-Boqwana's decision in ''Sonke Gender Justice v President'', which declared that certain provisions of the Correctional Services Act were unconstitutional insofar as they failed to provide for the independence of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services. During the same period, Mabindla-Boqwana served as an acting judge in the Competition Appeal Court between 2015 and 2016. After a brief but successful interview in October 2016, she was permanently appointed as a judge of the Competition Appeal Court in January 2017. In addition, she served as an acting judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal on four different occasions between April 2020 and June 2021. In that capacity, she wrote the unanimous judgement (written in both Xhosa and English) in which the Supreme Court dismissed politician

Andile Lungisa Andile Lungisa (born 21 December 1979 in Tsomo, Chris Hani District Municipality in the Eastern Cape) is a South African politician and the former deputy president of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). Lungisa is also the former ...

's appeal against his sentencing for assault.

Supreme Court of Appeal: 2021–present

In February 2021, Mabindla-Boqwana was shortlisted for permanent promotion to one of five vacancies in the Supreme Court of Appeal. After she was interviewed in April, the Judicial Service Commission recommended her appointment, and she joined the Supreme Court bench on 1 July 2021. In June 2022, the Office of the Chief Justice warned the public that somebody impersonating Mabindla-Boqwana had contacted several people and entities to request private and sensitive information.

References

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Early life and education

Career as an attorney

Western Cape High Court: 2013–2021

Supreme Court of Appeal: 2021–present

References

External links