South Africa: Supreme Court Of Appeal Gets First Female DP
By SA News
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has appointed the first female Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, the Presidency announced Wednesday evening.
Justice Mandisa Muriel Maya will fill the vacancy that has occurred following the release of Justice Khayelihle Kenneth Mthiyane from active service. Justice Maya will occupy one of the top four senior positions in the leadership echelons of the judiciary.
Justice Maya has close to 30 years’ experience in the legal profession.
She started as an attorney’s clerk at a law firm in uMthatha in 1987 and then went on to work as a court interpreter, prosecutor and assistant state law adviser in uMthatha.
She served her pupillage at the Johannesburg Bar and practised as an advocate between 1993 and 1995. She was appointed as an acting judge of the High Court in 1999 and a fulltime judge the following year.
Justice Maya has also acted as a judge at the Labour Court, an acting judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal and as an acting judge at the Constitutional Court.
In 2006, she was appointed as a judge at the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Justice Maya holds three university degrees including B.Proc from the University of Transkei, LLB from the University of Natal, and LLM from Duke University in the United States, where she was a Fulbright scholar.
“We congratulate Justice Maya and wish her all the best in the execution of this critical responsibility in the South African Judiciary,” said President Zuma.
