Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga (2013 – 2025)

Date of Birth

27 March 1962

University

B Iuris (1983) (University of Transkei – now Walter Sisulu University), LLB (1986) (Rhodes University), LLM cum laude (1990) (University of Notre Dame)

History at the Court:

Appointed: 1 August 2013. Term ended: 31 July 2025. Served as Acting Deputy Chief Justice: 27 June – 31 July 2025.

Brief biography

From 1987 to 1989 Justice Madlanga worked as a law lecturer at the University of Transkei. He subsequently joined the Bar and practised as an advocate for five years in Mthatha.From 1996 to 2001 he was appointed to act as a judge in the High Court. He was then appointed to Acting Judge at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein and, later, Acting Judge President of the Transkei Provincial Division of the High Court (now the Eastern Cape High Court, Mthatha).In 1999 Justice Madlanga was appointed to the then newly-established Competition Appeal Court but retained his permanent position at the High Court. From August 2000 to May 2001 Justice Madlanga was appointed as an acting justice of the Constitutional Court. He subsequently resigned from the judiciary and started practising as senior counsel.In 2003 Justice Madlanga was appointed to the Competition Tribunal on a part-time basis. In 2004 he appeared on behalf of South Africa before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands in the matter of Separation Wall Constructed by Israel on Occupied Palestinian Territory.Justice Madlanga was appointed Deputy Chairperson of the Competition Tribunal with effect from 1 July 2009, a post he held until his appointment to the Constitutional Court on 1 August 2013.During his twelve-year tenure on the Constitutional Court, Justice Madlanga authored numerous significant judgments. His term ended on 31 July 2025. In the final weeks of his tenure, he served as Acting Deputy Chief Justice from 27 June to 31 July 2025.

Selection of Judgments written