Johannesburg- Mandisa Maya, one of the front runners for the position of Chief Justice will on Tuesday officially succeed President Cyril Ramaphosa as the chancellor of the University of Mpumalanga.
Maya is currently the president of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa (SCA) since her appointment in 2017 and is the first woman in South Africa to hold the positions of deputy president and president of the SCA.
She is also a member of the South African Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which manages the appointment of judges and all matters relating to the judiciary and the administration of justice.
“The chancellor acts as a role model and reflects the university’s values to its stakeholders, and is a focal point to ensure the high standing of the university in the wider community,” Prof Thoko Mayekiso, vice-chancellor of the university said.
The university is one of the country’s newest higher education institutions.
In 2010, the Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande appointed two task teams to investigate the feasibility of establishing new universities in Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape.
In July 2013, then-president Jacob Zuma announced the name of the new university like the University of Mpumalanga, as well as the names of the members of the interim council to oversee its formal establishment. Ramaphosa was the university’s first chancellor.
Maya said: “It is most heartening to be part of this intelligent institution that recognises and affirms the ability of women to lead and participate competently in all spheres of society and the societal benefits attached to the empowerment of women and gender equality.”
Ramaphosa this month short-listed Maya, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo and justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, who is a judge at the Constitutional Court, as contenders to succeed
Mogoeng Mogoeng retired from the position in October.
The four judges are set to battle it out at the JSC before Ramaphosa has the final say on who becomes the next head of the country’s courts.
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