Capacity: Judge
Further appointments: N/A
First appointed as a judge: 01-07-2017
Key judgments: (1) NDZUTA V SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICES AND ANOTHER (JS557/12) [2017] ZALCJHB 68 (23 FEBRUARY 2017) ; (2) MOCQHAKA LOCAL MUNICIPLAITY V LEKOTA AND OTHERS (JR2681/09) [2016] ZALCJHB 307 (16 AUGUST 2016) ; (3) SAMWU OBO MOLEKWA AND OTHERS V CITY OF JOHANNESBURG METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY (J244/16) [2016] ZALCJHB 85 (8 MARCH 2016)
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: African
Candidate Bio:
Mahosi has acted in the Labour Court from 2016-2017. She has worked as an attorney, a lecturer and as a part-time commissioner at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
Mahosi holds a BProc and LLB from the University of Limpopo. She has a certificate in international commercial law from the Vrije University in Netherlands and diploma in insolvency from the University of Pretoria.
April 2017 interview
Interview Synopsis:
When asked how she has managed to overcome the numerous hurdles that women in the legal fraternity have to overcome, Ms Dephny Mahosi said it was “important to keep your eye on the ball, to peservere, and to get support from colleagues and friends… Its hard work, and hard work all the time.”
The commission did take her to task for delivering judgments tardily, including taking as long as six months — double the maximum time allowed for in the norms and standards which govern judges. Mahosi said this was “due to my trying to be perfect and in trying to find a style of writing I would over-analyse cases”.
Mahosi said she had “learnt from my experience” and now adopted a style that was more concise “without compromising on quality”. Acting President for the Supreme Court of Appeal, Madisa Maya, reassured Mahosi that she had “enjoyed” Mahosi’s judgments because “you write well”. Maya added that she was impressed by Mahosi’s CV.
Asked by commissioner Nomtandazo Ntlama, representing the law academics at the commission, what Mahosi’s time as an academic had added to her ability to adjudicate, the candidate said: “Being an academic involves researching the law, thats a very important skill for judges: to be able to find the law and apply it.”
Mahosi said that if appointed, she would bring “compassion” and the “love of the law” to the judiciary: “I bring understanding, patience and being able to listen, these are very important skills to have.”
