Capacity: Regional Magistrate
First Appointed as Regional Magistrate: 2016 (Mankweng and Polokwane Magistrates’ Courts)
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: African
Date of Birth: July 1970
Qualifications: B Proc (1994) LLB (2004) LLM (2013) (University of Limpopo)
Key Judgments and Publications:
- Mureri v (UAAC) United African Apostolic Church – Appeal (HCAA06/2023) [2023] ZALMPPHC 114 (29 November 2023)
- Daniel Johannes Smit (Snr) v Annelize Smit (2021/4290)
- Khutso Klaas Ntsoane and the State (AA01/2023)
- “Precautionary Suspension in the Workplace and the Right to be heard”– Published in Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, Volume 4 No 14, November 2013
Candidate Bio (Updated September 2024):
Ms Jane Ngobeni is a regional magistrate of Mankweng and Polokwane Magistrates’ Courts, having been sitting since 2016.
She speaks Tsonga, English and Northern Sotho. She was previously appointed as a magistrate of Giyani and Mankweng Magistrates’ Courts from 2003 until 2015. Prior to becoming a magistrate, Ms Ngobeni was a State Prosecutor in Randburg from 1995 until 2003.
Ms Ngobeni is involved in various community empowerment projects including outreach at different schools in the Limpopo Province on awareness campaigns concerning the “consequences of being in conflict with the law” as young people from 2011 until 2014. She has also initiated and been involved in mediation programmes with the University of Limpopo which she drew inspiration from UC Hastings University in San Fransisco, USA. In the mediation programme, students at the University of Limpopo who were studying Alternative Dispute Resolution were given an opportunity to mediate real cases in the Small Claims Court of Mankweng. Ngobeni supervised the students two days per week when the Small Claims Court sat. Additionally, she has been involved in the Judicial Skills Training under SAJEI which is training for people with necessary experience who aspire to become Judicial Officers. In February o March of 2024, she supervised the Judicial Skills Programme under SAJEI in Polokwane.
Ms Ngobeni has judicial experience in in the High Court of South Africa as she has acted in the Limpopo Division of the High Court from 7 August 2023 to 27 August 2023, 1 May 2024 to 23 Jue 2024, and 22 July 2024 until 16 August 2024.
Ms Ngobeni has held memberships with many organisations, including NUPSA (1996 to 2003); JOASA (2003 to 2016), IAWJ (2010 to present) and ARMSA NEC (2016 to present).
Her principal areas of legal interest and involvement include criminal law, as she was a public prosecutor prior to becoming a magistrate and extended to civil law and civil procedure when she became a magistrate, as she adjudicates both civil and criminal matters.
In her application she states that her most significant contribution to the law and the pursuit of justice in South Africa is through her judgments that she delivers, and her vast experience in criminal law. She further states that when acting in the High Court between May and June of 2024, she managed to finalise at least 6 cases by dealing with evidence as speedily as possible for both the state witnesses and the accused persons.
A further significant contribution to the law and the pursuit of justice she says is her article that she co-authored which raises awareness on employee’s rights in the workplace on pre-disciplinary processes that must be followed.
She has a relatively short experience as an acting judge, and seemingly sparse array of reported judgments. However, the judgments she has delivered, coupled with her vast experience as a magistrate, may provide enough of an indication that she is ready for a permanent appointment to the bench.
October 2024 Interview:
