Prof T Nhlapo
Professors Extraordinaria
BA (Law) (UBLS), LLB (Honours) (Glasgow), DPhil (Oxford) History:
Professor Thandabantu Nhlapo is Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cape Town, responsible for the student affairs portfolio, as well as international relations, and development and alumni affairs. Professor Nhlapo returned to UCT directly from a tour of duty as Deputy Ambassador of South Africa to the United States of America based at the Embassy of South Africa in Washington DC, and prior to this diplomatic posting, he had been appointed by President Mandela in 1996 as a full-time Commissioner on the South African Law Commission, a law reform body with the duty of spearheading the transformation of South African society through law. During his tenure at the Law Commission, Professor Nhlapo, as Chair of the Project Committee on Customary Law, was instrumental in the passage of significant legislation in family law, and in the empowerment of women and children, including an Act giving legal recognition to marriages concluded under indigenous law.
Before taking up the post at the Law Commission, Professor Nhlapo was Professor and Head of Private Law at the University of Cape Town. After South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, Professor Nhlapo participated centrally in the constitution-making process as Convenor of the Technical Committee on Traditional Leaders, a committee of experts who advised the Constitutional Assembly on all matters relating to traditional leadership and to customary law. Their work contributed to Chapter 12 of the present Constitution.
Professor Nhlapo was appointed by President Mbeki to chair newly-established Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims, whose mandate is to investigate and finalise claims and disputes pertaining to the status of various traditional leaders, dating back to 1927.
Other:
Professor Nhlapo is the author of two books and has written and spoken extensively on issues of women's rights in family law and of cultural diversity under the South African Constitution.
|
