Judge Nolwazi Mabindla-Boqwana, who has been recommended to replace the impeached judge president of the Western Cape High Court division, started her judicial journey in the province.
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) recommended Mabindla-Boqwana to lead the division after a long day interviewing candidates on Monday.
Here are five facts about her:
Start of legal career
Born in Humansdorp, Eastern Cape, the 51-year-old boasts a legal career spanning more than two decades.
She began her judicial journey at the Western Cape high court in 2013 and has since held positions at the competition appeal court and the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). Her expertise encompasses human rights, constitutional law and competition law, demonstrated through numerous significant judgments. Before taking on the judge seat she practised as a lawyer for about 10 years.
Judgment on Muslim marriages
Mabindla-Boqwana delivered landmark rulings that address critical issues. In Women’s Legal Centre Trust against President of the Republic of South Africa (2022), she addressed the constitutional rights of women and children in Muslim marriages, stating that the failure to recognise these marriages “violated the constitutional rights of women and children”.
Advocacy for indigenous language in law
Mabindla-Boqwana made history by delivering a judgment in her mother tongue, an act praised by chief justice Mandisa Maya during her JSC interview on Monday.
Maya noted that she had “made history” by writing the judgment “in your mother tongue”. Mabindla-Boqwana said she was “inspired” by Maya’s earlier work in isiXhosa and felt it was important because “legal language has to be developed in these [indigenous] languages” to ensure proper “access to justice”.
“If the litigants and judge and all others involved in a case understood one indigenous language, then it would be beneficial for proceedings to be carried out in that language,” said Mabindla-Boqwana.
Commitment to transformation
Mabindla-Boqwana, during her interview for an SCA appointment, highlighted the challenges female lawyers face.
“Society is still not trusting of women, and there is a reluctance to give them work.” She said clients needed to be “educated first” and pointed a finger at the government and businesses who litigate the most in SA but very rarely brief female advocates.
She said many women graduate from law school and are admitted to practice, “yet we never see them in court,” emphasising the need for client education and greater representation.
Contributions beyond the bench
In addition to her judicial responsibilities, Mabindla-Boqwana is an active contributor to legal scholarship, having published articles in the South African Legal Journal on juvenile sentencing and the rights of prisoners of war.
She is involved in training on various legal topics, including cybercrime and competition law.
In her interview with the JSC in April 2021, she said while judges can’t draw up legislation they can “write judgments which change the course of the law”.
When asked by commissioner Narend Singh if she had any advice for young black women, she said she had given several speeches to “women formations” and legal bodies because she wanted aspirant black female judges “to know that it is possible for young women to be a judge in specialised areas”.
Some of her accomplishments include being a trustee of the Mineworkers’ Provident Fund Board and Alternate Trustee of the Sentinel and Mine Employees’ Pension Funds from 2000 to 2007. She was also chair of the board of the Mineworkers’ Provident Fund from 2001 to 2002 and attended a mediation course to be trained as a trainer in Utah in the US in October 2019.
TimesLIVE
Modiegi Mashamaite
www.timeslive.co.za
