Meet South Africa’s first female Chief Justice
South Africa has appointed Mandisa Maya as the first woman Chief Justice in the history of the country.
Maya’s appointment comes after a recommendation by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the body in charge of senior judicial appointments to the president Cyril Ramaphosa.
She is expected to lead the country’s judiciary for the next 10 years.
Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya has also served in many pioneering roles as a woman in South Africa’s legal field. She was a prosecutor and state law advisor and was admitted as an advocate in 1994.
In June 2006, she was appointed to the Supreme Court of Appeal in June 2006 by former President Thabo Mbeki as the first black woman to serve in her position.
She also served as the first woman deputy president and first woman president in the Appeal’s Court from 2017 to 2022.
Maya was appointed Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa, assisting her predecessor Raymond Zondo in 2022.
She replaces Chief Justice Raymond Zondo who was appointed as Chief Justice by President Cyril Ramaphosa in April 2022, The Citizen reports.
