The Honourable
Nambitha Dambuza
Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal
Assumed office
June 2015
Appointed byJacob Zuma
Judge of the High Court
In office
2005 – June 2015
(Acting: 2003 – 2005)
Appointed byThabo Mbeki
DivisionEastern Cape
Personal details
Born (1964-10-31) 31 October 1964
King Williams Town
Cape Province, South Africa
Alma materUniversity of Natal (LLB)
Tulane University (LLM)

Nambitha Dambuza (born 31 October 1964) is a South African judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal. A former attorney, she sat in the Eastern Cape High Court from 2005 until her appointment to the Supreme Court in June 2015.

Early life and career

Born on 31 October 1964 in King Williams Town, Dambuza matriculated at St John's College in Mthatha in the former Cape Province.[1] She read law at the University of Natal, where she completed a BProc and an LLB in 1987 and 1989 respectively, and completed her articles at Nzimande and Mbuli, a law firm in Durban.[1] After completing an LLM at Tulane University in New Orleans, she returned to South Africa in 1992 to begin work as a practicing attorney.[1]

Judicial career

Eastern Cape High Court: 2003–2015

In April 2003,[2] Dambuza was appointed as an acting judge in the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa. After two years in an acting capacity, she was permanently appointed to the bench, where she served until 2015.[1] At the same time, after a period as an acting justice of the Competition Appeal Court in 2009, she was appointed permanently to that court in 2010.[3] In November 2013, when Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng took long leave, Dambuza was appointed as an acting justice of the Constitutional Court.[4] She held that position into 2014[1] and wrote a dissenting judgement in Malan v City of Cape Town in 2014.[5] She was later an acting judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal from 2014 to 2015.[1]

In April 2015, Dambuza was interviewed by the Judicial Service Commission as a candidate for permanent appointment to the Supreme Court of Appeal.[5] The Mail & Guardian said that she was a popular candidate, regarded by her peers as "progressive and constitutionally minded".[5] The Judicial Service Commission recommended her appointment, which President Jacob Zuma confirmed in June 2015.[6]

Supreme Court of Appeal: 2015–present

While sitting in the Supreme Court of Appeal, Dambuza was appointed to chair an inquiry into the conduct of Western Cape High Court judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe, following a complaint by Patricia Goliath against Salie-Hlophe and her husband, John Hlophe.[7] Dambuza's inquiry did not find clear evidence of misconduct but recommended further investigation into an altercation at Hlophe's home, which Dambuza said "appears to be at the centre of the total collapse of the relationship" between Hlophe and Goliath.[8]

In early 2020, Dambuza was shortlisted for appointment to the Constitutional Court, but the appointments were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[9] When the process reopened the following year, Dambuza withdrew her candidature.[10] She was acting Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal between 1 September 2022 and 1 June 2023, while Deputy President Xola Petse acted in the place of former President Mandisa Maya.[11]

Academic appointments

Dambuza has lectured in law at several institutions, including the University of Fort Hare,[1] and she was a visiting professor at Rhodes University in 2016.[12] She is also a former chair of the council of Walter Sisulu University.[12] In January 2023, during a symposium at Stellenbosch University, Dambuza called for a review of the mandatory sentencing regime established by the Criminal Law Amendment Act, No. 105 of 1997. She argued that harsh sentencing had not had the desired deterrent effect, given that the "main driving forces of criminal conduct" in South Africa were "desperate poverty and sheer greed and corruption".[13]

Personal life

Dambuza is a single mother to two daughters.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Dambuza, Nambitha". Supreme Court of Appeal. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  2. 1 2 Etheridge, Jenna (14 April 2015). "Being single mother will not affect my duties – SCA candidate". News24. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  3. ↑ "Zuma appoints 17 judges". News24. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  4. ↑ "Moseneke acts as Chief Justice". IOL. 4 November 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "JSC wrestles with gender transformation". The Mail & Guardian. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  6. ↑ Hartleb, Thomas (1 June 2015). "Zuma appoints 6 judges". News24. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  7. ↑ Thamm, Marianne (9 March 2020). "Western Cape High court judge to face inquiry into charges of misconduct". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "Report to JCC calls for tribunal to mull conflicting versions of judges' damaging clash". The Mail & Guardian. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  9. ↑ "JSC Candidates April 2020". Judges Matter. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  10. ↑ "JSC announces shortlist of judge candidates to be interviewed in April". Sowetan. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  11. ↑ "Current Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal". Supreme Court of Appeal. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  12. 1 2 "Professor Nambitha Dambuza". Rhodes University. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  13. ↑ "Justice Nambitha Dambuza calls for a review of South Africa's mandatory sentencing legislation". Stellenbosch University. 17 January 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
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