Capacity: Attorney
Admission as an attorney: December 1997
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Black
Date of Birth: March 1971
Qualifications: B Proc (1996) (UKZN)
Key judgments:
- Miya v Minister of Police (29972/2019) [2022] ZAGPPHC 596 (4 August 2022)
- Minister of Police v Miya (29972/2019) [2022] ZAGPPHC 884 (11 November 2022)
- Afriforum NPC v Member of the Executive Council, Department of Social Department, Mpumalanga (3935/2020) [2024] ZAMPMBHC 4 (24 January 2024)
- Maelane v S (A180/2023) [2025] ZAGPPHC 375 (16 April 2025)
- Scott v National Credit Regulator (105915/2023) [2025] ZAGPPHC 517 (12 May 2025)
Candidate Biography | Updated August 2025:
Ms Nkosingiphile Mazibuko is an admitted attorney, currently practicing as the managing director of MaMyeni Mazibuko Attorneys.
Her legal career began in April 1996, having been awarded her B Proc at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal in 1996, as a candidate attorney for Legal Aid South Africa (Legal Aid). After completing her articles at Legal Aid, she entered private practice as a professional assistant for 2 years, before going back to Legal Aid as a professional assistant in October 2000. In March 2003 she was promoted to high court professional assistant at Legal Aid, before becoming a supervisory professional assistant at Legal Aid in April 2005, and justice centre executive in February 2010, a position in which she remained for 4 years. In April 2014 she entered private practice again, albeit this time with her own law firm, and has served as the managing director there since. Her practice is built around civil and criminal litigation.
During this time she served as an acting district court magistrate from July 2014 to March 2015 in the Soshanguve magistrates’ court, and has served as an acting judge on various occasions in the Gauteng and Mpumalanga divisions of the high court from July 2021, totalling 71 weeks. Her latest acting stint was from 19 August 2024 to 20 September 2024.
In addition to the training and guidance she provides to her candidate and junior attorneys, she has served on the Legal Practice Council’s Gauteng Investigation, Disciplinary and Mediation Committee since 2023, and has served as a member and secretary of the South African Women Lawyers Association since 2006. She has also taken steps to further her legal own knowledge and expertise, by currently undertaking an LLM in banking law and a certificate in postgraduate academic writing at UNISA.
Although she has an interest in banking law, her background shows a great passion for using the law to further social justice, as can be seen by her time at Legal Aid, and through the various leadership roles she has undertaken with grassroot organisations and outreach programs.
As an acting judge, Mazibuko has presided over some important matters, and has delivered quality and timeous judgments. She has not yet had any of her judgments successfully appealed, and at the date of her application for appointment she does not have any reserved judgments outstanding.
In the matter of Scott v National Credit Regulator, the applicant, a registered debt counsellor, sought a declaratory order that the term ‘default’ as it appears in section 103(5) of the National Credit Act is a reference to a default under the original credit agreement irrespective of the fact that that agreement is under debt review, and that an application for debt review or a debt review order does not cure the ‘default’ of the original agreement for the purposes contemplated in section 103(5) of the National Credit Act. The issue to be determined was thus whether section 103(5) applied in circumstances where the consumer’s obligations under the credit agreement are subject to a re-arrangement agreement, debt review or a debt review order. In holding that section 103(5) finds application in circumstances where the consumer’s obligations under the credit agreement are subject to a debt re-arrangement agreement, debt review or debt review order, Mazibuko began by noting that section 39(2) of the Constitution required the interpretation of any legislation to promote the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights.
She also affirmed the purposive and contextual approach to statutory interpretation. She noted that a re-arrangement credit agreement does not replace the original credit agreement, but rather it is an arrangement or plan to bring payments under the original credit agreement up to date because the consumer is in default. Had the consumer not been in fault, there would be no need for a re-arrangement credit agreement. Section 103(5), Mazibuko stated, is to be read together with the overall purposes of the National Credit Act, which is among others to discourage over-indebtedness and to treat all consumers the same. Therefore, Mazibuko held that the legislature could not have intended that section 103(5) finds no application circumstances where the consumer’s obligations under the credit agreement are subject to a debt re-arrangement agreement, debt review or debt review order; hence these processes to not cure the default of the original agreement.
Mazibuko has shown a tremendous amount of leadership during her legal career, and has also shown a passion for furthering justice. Taking that into consideration with her numerous acting stints, and the legal knowledge and expertise gained through her time as managing director of her law firm, she may stand a good chance of being permanently appointed to bench.
October 2025 Interview:
The Judicial Service Commission interviewed candidates for eight vacancies in the Gauteng Division of the High Court. Following deliberations, the Commission had resolved to recommend Ms Nkosingiphile Goodness Ma-Myeni Mazibuko for the position.
Ms Nkosingiphile Goodness Ma-Myeni Mazibuko’s interview was successful.