Rhodes to bestow honorary doctorate on Constitutional Court judge
Rhodes University alumnus and judge of the Constitutional Court justice Mbuyiseli Russel Madlanga will be presented with an honorary doctorate of laws at a graduation ceremony at the university this week.
Born and bred in the Eastern Cape, Madlanga, who hails from a village outside KwaBhaca (formerly Mount Frere), has a list of accomplishments in the legal field that include lecturing in law, working in private practice and being appointed a judge at the age of 34.
He was the youngest judge to be appointed at the time.
After matriculating from Mariazell Senior Secondary School in Matatiele in 1979, Madlanga obtained a BJuris degree at the former University of Transkei and was awarded the Juta Prize for being the best law student.
Madlanga, who turns 61 today, obtained a governmentfunded bursary and enrolled at Rhodes to study for his LLB degree.
After graduating, he lectured part-time in the law faculty at the now Walter Sisulu University (WSU) while working for the department of justice to fulfil the contractual obligations of his bursary.
He continued to study and obtained an LLM in human rights and constitutional Law, cum laude, at the University of Notre Dame in the US, where he also interned at the Washington DC office of Amnesty International.
After returning to SA, Madlanga completed his pupillage at the Johannesburg Bar before opening a practice in Mthatha, where he was later appointed a judge of the high court.
Within three years, he was appointed acting judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein but later moved back to Mthatha to act as judge-president of the Mthatha high court.
By May 2001, Madlanga, who had also acted as judge of the Constitutional Court, left the judiciary and returned to the bar, working in Mthatha and Johannesburg, and later representing SA at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Eleven years later, Madlanga was appointed as the chief evidence leader in a team of seven in the commission of inquiry into the Marikana massacre, in which 34 striking mineworkers were killed by police, after at least 10 other people, including police and security guards, died during a violent strike.
Madlanga was also a member of the Competition Tribunal and a member of the Judicial Service Commission before being appointed as a justice of the Constitutional Court in August 2013.
In May 2016, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree by WSU.
Rhodes spokesperson Velisile Bukula confirmed that the university would honour Madlanga with an LLD degree at its 2023 graduation ceremony in recognition of his distinguished judicial career and significant contribution to developing SA’s jurisprudence.
Madlanga said: “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 and speak highly of to whoever cares to listen.”
Rhodes vice-chancellor Prof Sizwe Mabizela said: “In his judicial career, he has delivered ground-breaking judgments and landmark decisions which have not only been of value to the litigating parties but also of great benefit to the greater SA.
“Justice Madlanga is selfless and gives his time to benefit our disadvantaged communities.
“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.”