Capacity: Advocate
First admitted as Advocate: 2007
Gender: Male
Race: African
Date of Birth: December 1962
Qualifications: Secondary Teachers Diploma (1987) (University of Zululand), LLB (2006) (UNISA)
Candidate Bio | Updated February 2026:
Adv Mzokhulayo Mthembu is an Advocate in KwaZulu-Natal.
As you grow, you learn that the best teachers are those who never stop learning; instead, they remain a student among students. Advocate Mthembu spent 20 years as an Educator for Afrikaans Higher Grade in Matric, and like the best teachers, he continued learning and returned to school to further his education – this time with an LLB from the University of South Africa.
Advocate Mzokhulayo Mthembu is now an advocate of the High Court of South Africa, admitted by the KwaZulu-Natal Society of Advocates in 2007.
As a candidate attorney, Mthembu worked for the Legal Aid of South Africa, Durban Justice Centre (2007 – 2008). However, his passion for land matters, specifically eviction and tenure security matters affecting labour tenants and farm occupants, was ignited shortly after, while working for the Department of Land Affairs as a Land Legal Officer (2008 – 2011). His practice then included land restitution claims and litigation as a Restitution Legal Advisor (2011 – 2022).
As an advisor, Advocate Mthembu’s most significant accomplishments have been restoring the rights and resources of claimant communities. In the Solela Land Claim matter, Advocate Mthmebu instructed the state’s attorney, resulting in the beneficiaries’ children receiving financial assistance towards tertiary education at the landowner’s expense. In the consolidated claims in Melmoth Communities, his help restored the community’s possession of farming equipment and free training of the equipment.
Advocate Mthembu has served as an acting magistrate twice in his legal career. While his first stint was eight months, he most recently served as acting magistrate from July 2022 through to June 2024. Sitting in Durban, Ezakheni, and Ekuvukeni. As acting magistrate, he adjudicated cases in criminal and civil courts and presided as the chairperson of the case flow management meetings.
Advocate Mthembu has written several judgments while serving as an acting magistrate. His writing is clear, and his reasonings are thorough. In Khanyisani, where the conflict stemmed from damage to the Complainant’s shack and name-calling, Advocate Mthembu ruled in favour of the State based on the Accused’s failure to dispute the Complainant’s evidence, an objective overview of the claims introduced only in the defence’s case, and the minor witness’s lack of credibility. The manner in which he explained these findings is succinctly laid out in his judgment for easy understanding.
It will be interesting to see how Adv Mthembu fares in his first sitting before the JSC, especially since he has no acting experience in the Land Court, which he seeks appointment to.
April 2026 Interviews
After deliberations, the Judicial Service Commission has resolved not to recommend any candidate to be appointed to the Land Court and to leave the vacancy open.