Capacity: Magistrate
First appointed as a magistrate: 1994
Further Appointments: Senior Magistrate (2000)
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Black
Date of Birth: March 1963
Qualifications: B. Proc (1991)(University of Fort Hare) Adv. Dipl. in Labour Law (1998) (UJ) Postgraduate Dipl. in Criminal Justice (2013)(Nelson Mandela University)
Key Judgments & Appearances:
- Minister of Police and Another v. Hoogendoorn (A392/17) [2022] ZAGPPHC 309; 2022 (2) SACR 36 (GP) (16 May 2022)
- Wesbank v. Mzotane (1778/2021) [2022] ZAECGHC 26 (24 March 2022)
- Kotze and Another v. MEC of Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Land use management and administration), Province of the Eastern Cape and Others (CA300/2018) [2020] ZAECGHC 25 (10 March 2020)
- Horwitz v. State (CA&R129/2019) [2020] ZAECGHC 14; 2020 (1) SACR 587 (ECG) (25 February 2020)
- Impilo Yabantu Services (Pty) Ltd v. Tshokotshi (EL878/2016) [2020] ZAECELLC 1; [2020] 3 All SA 169 (ECL) (14 January 2020)
Candidate Bio | Updated March 2026:
Magistrate Mbulelo Victor Nqumse is a senior magistrate at the Komani (formerly Queenstown) Magistrates Court.
Magistrate Nqumse has over three decades of magisterial experience, currently serving in the Eastern Cape. Additionally, Nqumse has served multiple terms as an acting judge in both the Eastern Cape and Gauteng Divisions of the High Court, amounting to approximately 8 terms on the bench as an acting judge.
Magistrate Nqumse began his legal career as a public prosecutor in 1992 before being appointed as a magistrate in the Ngqushwa District in 1994. Throughout his tenure as magistrate, he has presided over criminal, civil, family, and administrative law matters.
In addition, Magistrate Nqumse has played an active leadership role within the magistracy, serving as Head of Court in Queenstown (Komani), where he sought to effect meaningful institutional change, including promoting racial diversity within the magistracy and introducing an “open door policy” to provide practitioners direct access to court leadership to raise concerns regarding the efficient administration of justice.
Furthermore, Magistrate Nqumse has held a number of other leadership roles, including serving as Chairperson of the Civil Forum for Magistrates in the Eastern Cape and assisting in establishing similar structures in other administrative regions. He has also served as Chairperson of the Judicial Officers Association of South Africa (JOASA) in the Eastern Cape, and later as its Treasurer. In addition, he has chaired disciplinary hearings on behalf of the Magistrates’ Commission in a number of provinces.
Turning to his decisions as an acting judge, Nqumse has delivered a number of judgments that reflect his engagement with both criminal and civil law, including Horwitz v State. In Horwitz, Nqumse presided over an appeal resulting from an incident at a retirement village where the complainant, a handyman, alleged that the appellant verbally abused him using a racial slur and physically grabbed him during a confrontation about his work. Nqumse set aside the assault conviction but confirmed the conviction for crimen injuria, finding that the use of racially offensive language constituted a serious violation of dignity. In his reasoning, he emphasised the gravity of such conduct in light of the constitutional values of dignity and equality.
More recently, he presided over Minister of Police and Another v Hoogendoorn, an appeal involving the alleged wrongful arrest, detention, and malicious prosecution of a plaintiff. In his decision, Nqumse clarified the limits of warrantless arrests under the Criminal Procedure Act and the distinct requirements for establishing malicious prosecution.
Beyond the courtroom, Nqumse is committed to legal education and professional development. In April 2025, he delivered the keynote address at the National Association of Democratic Lawyers’ Annual General Meeting, discussing “Constitutional Transformation in the Context of Human Rights.” Additionally, DCJ Mlambo described Magistrate Nqumse as a “technology whizz,” reflecting his embrace of technology and innovation in the administration of justice.
Nqumse identifies his most significant contributions to the law and justice in South Africa as his mentorship of peers in the legal profession, pursuit of human rights, and commitment to upholding the foundational values enshrined in the Bill of Rights: dignity, equality, and freedom.
April 2026 JSC Interview
After deliberations, the Judicial Service Commission decided not to recommend Mr Mbulelo Victor Nqumse for appointment to the Eastern Cape High Court.
April 2022 Interview
October 2021 Interview
October 2021 Interview Synopsis
Magistrate Mbulelo Victor Nqumse is one of the few lucky magistrates to have spent the bulk of their careers adjudicating civil law cases. Although he describes it as “being thrown in the deep end” at the relative dawn of his career in the magistracy in 1999, he acknowledges that it sharpened his judicial skills. He now considers adjudicating civil cases his “forte”. This much was illustrated in the questioning by Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo at the beginning of Nqumse’s interview. Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge took this point further by noting that Nqumse has dealt with over 300 civil law cases, including having written 25 opposed motion court judgments as acting judge in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng.
The sticking point in Nqumse’s interview came when he had to deal with objections from legal professional bodies as raised by Commissioner Doris Tshepe. The first concern related to Nqumse’s acceptance of the nomination by a practicing advocate who has previously criticized a political party involved in a case that came before Nqumse. Nqumse says the advocate’s views are his own and “it is difficult to force someone to change their views”. A second concern related to Nqumse’s track record as an acting judge, which the Black Lawyers’ Association said was too limited to have prepared him for judicial office. Nqumse says this concern was misplaced as the BLA had undercounted the number of judgments he has written, which he says have more than adequately prepared him. The final concern related to a series of costs orders Nqumse gave early in his career as an acting judge, one of which was reversed on appeal. Nqumse says he accepts the criticisms, but he has subsequently acted on several stints in both Gauteng and Eastern Cape.
Although Nqumse answered most questions adequately, he was unsuccessful in his interview. This is probably a reflection of how tough this October 2021 Eastern Cape round was (with at least four silks and a senior professor applying). This is a far cry from the Eastern Cape rounds of the past where some candidates were simply unappointable