At its fourth graduation ceremony on Thursday, 30 March 2023, at 14h30, Rhodes
University will confer a degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) (honoris causa) on its
alumnus and Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Justice Mbuyiseli
Russel Madlanga.
Justice Madlanga was born and raised in the rural village of Njijini, outside the small
town of Kwa Bhaca (formerly Mount Frere), in the Eastern Cape. He matriculated
from Mariazell High School in Matatiele in 1979. He obtained the BJuris degree at
the University of Transkei (now Walter Sisulu University) in 1983 and was awarded
the Juta Prize for being the best law student during this time. Justice Madlanga
enrolled for his LLB degree at Rhodes University and tutored first-year law students
in his final year.
After graduating, he lectured part-time at the University of Transkei Law Faculty
while working for the Department of Justice towards fulfilling his contractual
obligations under the government bursary that had funded his LLB studies. He
proceeded to do an LLM in Human Rights and Constitutional Law, which he
received cum laude at the University of Notre Dame in the United State of America.
He interned at the Washington DC office of Amnesty International. On his return, he
did pupillage at the Johannesburg Bar. On completion, he opened a practice at the
Mthatha Bar.
At age 34, he was appointed as a Judge of the Mthatha High Court, becoming South
Africa’s youngest judge at the time. Within three years of this appointment, he was
appointed Acting Judge of Appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.
He was then appointed – this time on a permanent basis – as a Judge of Appeal in
the Competition Appeal Court. He continued acting at the Supreme Court of Appeal,
but the acting stint, which was to have been for a year, was cut short because he
was appointed to act as the Judge President of the Mthatha High Court. While
holding that position, he received yet another appointment as an Acting Justice of
the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
In May 2001, he resigned from the Judiciary and returned to the Bar in June as
senior counsel, practising in Mthatha and Johannesburg. His practice took off
immediately, and he appeared virtually in all the High Courts in the country, the
Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court. Notably, he received a brief
to represent the Republic of South Africa at the International Court of Justice at The
Hague (Den Haag) in the Netherlands. This was in the case of the “Legal
Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.
Another notable brief he received was his appointment by Mr Trevor Manuel, the
then Minister of Finance, as the Chairperson of the Exchange Control Amnesty Unit.
This Unit did not only grant amnesty to people who had contravened Exchange
Control Regulations in expatriating their assets, it also facilitated the disclosure of
assets worth R68,6 billion; 70% of which had been taken out of the country in
contravention of the Regulations. The process also raised R2,9 billion in levies. The
disclosure of offshore assets resulted in an estimated R1.4 billion increase in the tax
base. At the conclusion of this amnesty process Mbuyiseli Madlanga SC was hailed
by the Ministry of Finance for having “led the Amnesty Unit impeccably and with
great enthusiasm”. The process was so successful that it was regarded as an
international benchmark.
In 2012, the Marikana Commission of Enquiry was appointed to investigate the
killings of 34 striking mine workers and ten other people in Marikana, near
Rustenburg, North West Province, and Mbuyiseli was appointed as the Chief
Evidence Leader. In that capacity, he was lead counsel in a team of seven
advocates, three of whom (including him) were senior counsel. He held numerous
other briefs in high-profile cases.
On appointment by the President, Justice Madlanga became a member of the
Competition Tribunal for nine years, during three of which he was its Deputy
Chairperson. As a nominee of the Advocates for Transformation component of the
General Council of the Bar, the President next appointed him as a member of the
Judicial Service Commission, a position he held for two years. He was then
appointed – directly from his practice as an advocate – to become a Justice of the
Constitutional Court of South Africa with effect from 1 August 2013, this time on a
permanent basis.
Justice Madlanga has an interest in academia. At the invitation of the Law School of
his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, he held the prestigious Clynes Chair
as a Visiting Professor. This Chair is reserved for distinguished US and international
legal scholars and jurists, and among those who have held it are US Supreme Court
Justices. In that capacity, Justice Madlanga offered a two-credit three-week course
in Comparative Constitutional Law in April 2016. In 2018, he was a Visiting Professor
at Walter Sisulu University and the University of Fort Hare. The Boston University
School of Law has now invited him to serve as the William and Patricia Kleh Visiting
Professor, lecturing from August to December 2023 and delivering “the Annual
Distinguished Kleh Lecture”. Over the years, he has delivered a number of papers at
several universities in South Africa and abroad.
As a Justice of the Constitutional Court, Justice Madlanga has penned several
ground-breaking judgments. He was the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the South
African Judicial Education Journal, launched in April 2018 and published under the
auspices of the South African Judicial Education Institute. This is a statutory body
with the mandate of providing continuing education to the Judiciary. He has been a
member of the South African Law Journal editorial board. He currently serves on the
editorial board of the Yearbook of South African Law.
Justice Madlanga’s interests are not only in law and academics. For eight years, he
was a member of the Arbitration Panel of his church, the Methodist Church of
Southern Africa, having been appointed to that position by Conference, the church’s
highest governing body.
On 13 May 2016, he was awarded a Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree (honoris causa)
by Walter Sisulu University.
In recognition of his distinguished judicial career and significant contribution to
developing South Africa’s jurisprudence, Rhodes University will honour Justice
Madlanga with an honorary degree, Doctor of Laws (LLD) (honoris causa), at its
2023 Graduation ceremonies on 30 March 2023.
“I am delighted that Rhodes University has decided to honour me. What touches
me, even more, is that the honour is being bestowed by my alma mater, an
institution of which I am truly proud of and speak highly of to whoever cares to
listen,” said Justice Madlanga.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Sizwe Mabizela said Judge Madlanga’s honour was in
recognition of his distinguished judicial career and for his significant contribution to
South Africa’s jurisprudence development. “In his judicial career, he has delivered
ground-breaking judgments and landmark decisions which have not been of value
only to the litigating parties but also of great benefit to the greater South African
populace. Justice Madlanga is selfless and gives his time to benefit our
disadvantaged communities. During his long leave in the second half of 2018, he
offered to lecture free of charge at our province’s two historically disadvantaged
universities. I am delighted that the Rhodes University community has seen it fit to
honour his many and significant contributions with the award of an honorary
doctorate,” said Professor Mabizela.