Capacity: Judge
First Admitted: April 2021
Advocate (admitted in 2006 in Johannesburg, 1999 in Nigeria)
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Black
Date of Birth: 7 December 1970
Key judgments:
- B v B (525/20) [2020] ZANCHC 52 (7 August 2020)
- Nel v Van Schalkwyk (207/19) [2020] ZANCHC 33 (26 June 2020) ;
- S V B 2020 JDR 1627 (NCK)
- Desert Oil Proprietary Limited t/a Caltex Northern Cape Marketer v Polka Dot Cafe CC t/a Caltex Carters (1399/20) [2020] ZANCHC 72 (30 October 2020)
Candidate bio:
Advocate Albert Punch Sibongile Nxumalo has had a life of activism. In the turbulent period of the late 1980s, at the tender age of 17, Nxumalo was shot on his right calf when he was arrested by the police in his hometown of Galeshewe, Kimberley. He was detained for 90 days without trial as part of the draconian Internal Security Act of 1982. He did not receive adequate medical treatment and would live the rest of his life with a right leg that is orthopedically underdeveloped than his left.
Nxumalo was a member of activist organisation The United Democratic Front before he left South Africa for exile in Nigeria, where he completed his Bachelor of Law, Honours (LLB Hons) at the University of Calabar. While still in Nigeria he became a pupil and later associate with Kayode Ogunjobi & Company in Lagos. He later completed a Barrister-at-Law certificate and was called to the Nigerian Bar as a barrister of the Nigerian Supreme Court.
On his return to South Africa in 1999 Nxumalo joined the Northern Cape Legislature as a senior legal advisor, and later becoming a senior state law advisor with the Western Cape Government in 2004. Legal practice called him again and he joined the Johannesburg Bar as a pupil and practising advocate. He quickly took up chambers at the illustrious Pitje Chambers, and joined Advocates for Transformation to continue his activist streak as a member of its executive committee in Johannesburg. He still remains deeply connected to his community activist roots, as a member of the Eldorado Park Law Clinic, offering free legal services to poor people.
In addition to his 14 years at the Bar, Nxumalo has also held an acting stint for three terms at the Northern Cape High Court in 2020.
April 2021 Interview:
Adv Albert Punch Sibongile Nxumalo’s April 2021 interview for a position on the Northern Cape Division of the High Court was successful. He was nominated for appointment.
