Capacity: Advocate
Admitted as an Advocate: February 2003
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Black African
Date of Birth: December 1960
Qualifications: BA (1994) LLB (1996) (Wits), LLM (2011) (University of Pretoria), PhD Candidate (UNISA)
Key Judgments:
- Rustenburg Platinum Mines Ltd v Langa & Others (2026) ZALCC 96
- GD Kilpin Estates (Pty) Ltd v van der Vyver (2026) ZALCC 75
- Charles Lambrechts N.O. and Others v Piet Booysen (2026) ZALCC 163
Candidate Biography | August 2026:
Adv Mikateko Joyce Maluleke is an advocate and recently served as Director-General of the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.
Adv Maluleke completed her BA and LLB degrees at Wits University in 1994 and 1996, respectively. She then served as an articled clerk at the Wits Law Clinic.
Maluleke spent several years serving as a state law adviser and Deputy Director in the Department of Justice. In 2003, she was admitted as an advocate of the High Court. She eventually rose to Director-General, leading the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities from 2020 to 2025. Maluleke has served in crucial oversight and quasi-judicial roles. She has served as a Commissioner of the Employment Equity Commission, the chairperson of the SARS Tax Board, and a member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) in 2020.
Maluleke has maintained a strong academic profile alongside her career. As a seasoned researcher, she has demonstrated her legal interest in representation at the Constitutional Court, forced removals of Black people from their land, and gender equality. She is currently a PhD candidate at UNISA, researching the interaction between the Extension of Security of Tenure Act (ESTA) and the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act (IPILRA). She also authored a book chapter on gender equality in customary marriages. The Supreme Court of Appeal used her scholarly work in Sengadi v Tsambo on customary marriage requirements.
Since 2025, Maluleke has served as an Acting Judge of the Land Court. She has had an immediate impact, co-leading the Limpopo mass case management project to resolve 42 restitution cases.
In Rustenburg Platinum Mines v Langa, she wrote a landmark judgment protecting informal land rights. She ruled that mining rights do not automatically override informal customary land tenure. She held that mining right holders ought to obtain the community’s free, prior and informed consent before mining activities. In GD Kilpin Estate (Pty) Ltd v Van der Vywer, she considered the security of tenure of a long-standing farm occupier, reflecting her commitment to protecting vulnerable occupiers and advancing South Africa’s land reform framework. In Lambrechts NO v Booysen, Maluleke considered the statutory protections afforded to farm occupiers under ESTA, reinforcing the importance of security of tenure and protection against arbitrary eviction.
Maluleke’s candidacy reflects a combination of extensive judicial experience, leadership in professional associations and sustained engagement in legislative reform. Despite the judgments she has handed down and her recent experience at the Land Court, Maluleke has a rich history in positions relating to employment equity, women, youth and persons with disabilities. However, little points to Land Court expertise. Despite her more than 20 years as an advocate and her other experience, the JSC will almost certainly test whether she has the expert knowledge appropriate for a seat on a specialised superior court.