Mandisa Maya has been named South Africa’s first-ever female Chief Justice by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Prior to her appointment, Maya was the country’s deputy Chief Justice.
The 60-year-old had also previously served as the President of the Supreme Court of Appeal from 2017 to 2022.
She will assume office on Sept 1 and will take over from Chief Justice Raymond Zondo whose tenure ends August 31.
In a statement, the presidency said the appointment of Maya is a “significant milestone” for the country.
Born on 20 March 1964 in St Cuthbert’s, a rural part of Tsolo, in the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape, Maya was the eldest of six children. She attended the University of Natal graduating with an LLB in 1988. She initially wanted to study at the University of Transkei but changed her mind after but changed her mind on the first day she attended university in South Africa and switched to law after looking at a medical textbook.
Maya officially began her legal career at Transkei, working as a prosecutor and state law adviser until she was admitted as an advocate in 1994. 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.
She was the first Black woman to be appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal and the first woman to be appointed deputy president and then president of that court.
In July 2021, Mandisa Maya was appointed as the Chancellor of the University of Mpumalanga. She became the first woman Deputy Chief Justice in September 2022.
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