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Judge Nolwazi Penelope Mabindla-Boqwana

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Judge Nolwazi Penelope Mabindla-Boqwana

Capacity: Judge
First appointed as judge: 2013 (Western Cape)
Further Appointment: 2017 (Competition Appeal Court) 2022 (Supreme Court of Appeal)
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Black
Date of Birth: January 1973
Qualifications: B Proc (1996) LLB (1998) (Wits)

Key Judgments

Candidate Bio:

Justice Nolwazi Penelope Mabindla-Boqwana is a judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Judge Mabindla-Boqwana has a distinguished legal career spanning over two decades. She started her judicial path with her appointment to the Western Cape High Court in 2013. In 2017, she joined the Competition Appeal Court and acted at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) from 2020 to 2021 before being appointed permanently to the SCA in 2022. She has an extensive background in human rights, constitutional law, and competition law, and she has contributed significantly to the judiciary through her insightful judgments in various areas of law.

Judge Mabindla-Boqwana’s early career as a lawyer saw her working as labour law counsel for AngloGold Ashanti and later as a director of consulting businesses. She returned to legal practice as an attorney in 2008, and soon after, her judicial career began with acting appointments in the Labour Court. Her career trajectory has been marked by a dedication to justice and a commitment to addressing systemic inequality, particularly concerning women’s rights.

In the recent case of Venator Africa (Pty) Ltd v Watts and Another (2024), saw Judge Mabindla-Boqwana delivering a judgment concerning a contractual dispute. The case highlighted issues related to breach of contract and misrepresentation. Her judgment in this matter reinforced principles of good faith and contractual obligations in commercial relationships.

Women’s Legal Centre Trust v President of the Republic of South Africa (2022) is a landmark case, where Judge Mabindla-Boqwana dealt with the recognition and regulation of Muslim marriages in South Africa. She found that the failure to recognise these marriages violated the constitutional rights of women and children in such unions. The judgment mandated the government to introduce legislation to address this issue within two years. This case was significant in promoting equality and the protection of vulnerable groups.

Judge Mabindla-Boqwana has been a vocal advocate for transformation within the judiciary. She has openly discussed the lack of black female advocates appearing in commercial matters before her, highlighting the slow pace of change at the Cape Bar. Her commitment to mentoring young, black female lawyers is evident in her public statements and professional engagements.

In addition to her judicial work, Judge Mabindla-Boqwana has also contributed to legal scholarship, publishing articles in the South African Legal Journal on topics such as juvenile sentencing and the rights of prisoners of war.

Her involvement in high-profile criminal cases, such as the conviction of artist Zwelethu Mthethwa for murder, has also placed her in the public eye, showcasing her capacity to handle sensitive and complex matters with fairness and integrity.

Judge Nolwazi Mabindla-Boqwana’s career reflects her deep commitment to justice, equality, and the rule of law. Her rulings have had a profound impact on constitutional law, human rights, and competition law in South Africa. As a judge at the Supreme Court of Appeal, she continues to shape South Africa’s legal landscape, ensuring that the principles of fairness and justice are upheld in every judgment.

April 2021 Interview:

April 2021 Interview Synopsis:

A significant part of Western Cape High Court judge Nolwazi Mabindla-Boqwana’s successful interview for a position at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) centred on customary law, and her use of an indigenous language to pen an additional version of an appellate court judgment.

This was for her majority judgment after a full SCA Bench heard the appeal against conviction and sentencing in the assault case involving former Nelson Mandela Bay municipal councillor Andile Lungisa.

SCA president Mandisa Maya, noted that Mabindla-Boqwana had “made history” by writing the judgment “in your mother tongue” and asked the candidate to reflect on the motivation and significance of this.

Mabindla-Boqwana said she was “inspired” by Maya herself, who had written a judgment in isiXhosa which she “admired” and felt it was important to do this because “legal language has to be developed in these [indigenous] languages” to ensure proper “access to justice”.

Mabindla-Boqwana later said she believed that if the litigants and judge and all others involved in a case understood one indigenous language, then it would be beneficial for proceedings to be carried out in that language.

She added that an English version of the judgment remains available. While mindful of the costs to translate the record if the matter was appealed, Mabindla-Boqwana nevertheless felt this would be outweighed by the access to justice it allowed and the benefits it would have in developing the law, and even indigenous law, in South Africa. This, she said, was what the Constitution prescribed.

The commission also quizzed Mabindla-Boqwana on her findings which related to a “test-case” which challenged the Legal Practise Council which has recently come into force to provide oversight for both the attorneys and advocates professions.

Regarding questions about transformation within the legal profession, Mabindla-Boqwana noted the high number of female lawyers who graduate from law school, are “admitted in numbers” and “yet we never see them in court?”

“Society is still not trusting of women and there is a reluctance to give them work,” she told the commission. She said clients needed to be “educated first” and pointed a finger at government and business who litigate the most in South Africa but very rarely brief female advocates.

Mabindla-Boqwana was also tested on her understanding of concepts like judicial over-reach and whether judges can make law. To the former, she responded that judges need to be mindful of “usurping the roles” of the other two arms of government (as an example, telling the executive what to build and what to spend on that build). To the latter, she said while judges can’t draw up legislation they can “write judgments which change the course of the law”.

Appearing bubbly and effervescent with a demonstrable passion for the law, Mabindla-Boqwana seemed to have little trouble in charming the commission during an interview as smooth as a a freshly shaved chiskop.

October 2016 Interview:

October 2016 Interview Synopsis:

Eminently qualified and evidently sharper than a stepping razor, Western Cape high court judge Nolwazi Boqwana appeared to have won over several members of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) by merely walking in the door — a response that appeared unnerving when judging the response from an all-male quarter of the room.

This response caused ANC parliamentarian Mathole Motshekga to quip about her “interpersonal relations”: “I can see you are doing very well on that side,” he said. Whatever leeriness portrayed could not detract from Boqwana’s qualifications and experience — which seemed apparent to the JSC during an interview that lasted about ten minutes.

Boqwana was quickly asked to list the attributes that would make her successful in the job: she is “hardworking”, “thought through judgments”, “believes” she is a “patient person” and had gained further training to go with the “exposure” to competition matters as a lawyer.

Asked by commissioner Narend Singh if she had any advice for young black women, Boqwana said she had given several speeches to “women formations” and legal bodies because she wanted aspirant black female judges “to know that it is possible for young women to be a judge in specialised areas”.