Nelson Mandela University Council Welcomes Judge Nambitha Dambuza as New Chair

 South African judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal, she took over the governance role on 1 September from Ambassador Nozipho January-Bardill, who stepped down on 31 August after having served two terms of office.

“I am looking forward to being part of the university. It’s a big role that I do not take for granted, and I hope I can really be of value to the lives of the students that come out of this university,” said Judge Dambuza.

The experience gained over 20 years of being a judge will be invaluable in navigating her new role and, she hopes to “infuse some of the principles and values associated with justice in how I lead the council”.

“I hope that my experience in the administration of justice and interpreting the Constitution, deconstructing the principles and values enshrined in the South African Constitution into everyday life experiences, will flow into the work that I will be doing.

“In our job we listen a lot, we have to hear what people say, and I will listen to what goes on within the university community. And having done that, I should be able to make the required determination.”

Although she has until now been a member of Council, her new role as Chair will see Judge Dambuza provide leadership and oversight in the governance of the University, a position she has occupied before at Walter Sisulu University.

She will preside over Council meetings, ensure adherence to policies and procedures, and liaise between the management and Council, balancing academic autonomy with accountability. This includes giving clear, effective strategic direction to executive management so that Nelson Mandela University can flourish in South Africa’s competitive higher education environment.

Born in the Eastern Cape, Judge Dambuza obtained her BProc and LLB from the University of Natal (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal). After being admitted as an attorney, she studied in the US and obtained her LLM from Tulane University.

She practised law for most of the 1990s and earlier 2000s before being appointed as a judge in the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court in 2005, and later, in 2015, to a permanent position in the Supreme Court of Appeal. She has acted as the Deputy President and President of that Court.

Within the judiciary she is the convenor of the newly appointed judges induction programme under the auspices of the South African Judicial Education Institute (Sajei).

She is also the current Chairman of the Rules Board for the courts of law in South Africa, a council which is responsible for making and revising the rules of procedure in South African Courts.

Beyond her profession, Judge Dambuza is actively engaged in various educational and training initiatives, and is a visiting professor at Rhodes University’s Faculty of Law.

Her law career started, unexpectedly, while she was enrolled for an undergraduate science degree.

Judge Dambuza studied at the same time as South Africa’s new Chief Justice Mandisa Maya, and remembers reading law reports alongside her while she herself was still a science student.

“Deputy Chief Justice Maya was a very close friend of mine and I spent half the time at the Law section of the library. I thought, this is more fun than working out science formulas, and that was the start of my journey in law.”

She switched courses and loved learning a new “old” language – Latin. Judge Dambuza values the power of language and is forever striving to learn new languages.

“I can still understand my Pedi and Sotho friends, we don’t need a translator.”

However, even so, if she could go back to university today, and not study law, fulfilling as it has been, Judge Dambuza would  study Geography and languages: “I would do geography as a major and perhaps take it further – I follow all those National Geographic programmes – and I love languages, I am a true humanities student.”

Her interest in geography is reflected in a deep concern for the natural environment, shaded by the very real threat of global climate change.

“I grew up fetching water from the stream, when the water used to come so nice and clean, it was the water that people drank. This is where members of my community did their laundry. Today, however, that water is either polluted or dried up,” she said of her rural Eastern Cape upbringing.

“I’m looking forward to being part of an institution that actually takes environmental stewardship that seriously. Environmental sensitivity is not a nice-to-have at Nelson Mandela University, it is laid down in its values.”

The Council met on the George Campus of Nelson Mandela University, the only one of its seven campuses outside Gqeberha. As the university’s sustainability hub for the green economy, it was a fitting venue for Judge Dambuza to start her term of office.

Until December 2023 she was the Chairperson of the African Judicial Network on Environmental Law, an organisation that supports education of Judges and Magistrates throughout the African Continent on Environmental Law, to enhance their capacity in adjudication of disputes involving this complex area of law.

She is also a Board Member of the Global Judicial Institute on Environmental Law, an entity that advances the same cause in relation to judges of the world.

Home for the judge is Gqeberha, although she has to be in Bloemfontein for much of the year when the Appeal Court is sitting.

She highlights the strategic trajectory of Ocean Sciences at Nelson Mandela University, noting that “it is a very distinguishing feature for Nelson Mandela University, and a beautiful flagship”.

She does remember from her studies in the mid 1980s, however, that WSU (University of Transkei at the time) scientists were active in exploring the waters of Wild Coast. “I used to see all these scientists from the Science Department every Friday, going out to the sea.”

In addition to her academic role at Rhodes, Judge Dambuza has other higher educational links to the Eastern Cape. She was part of the first Council at Walter Sisulu University after it emerged from a difficult period.

This came after 2011, when then Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande placed it under administration, saying that it was “technically bankrupt”.

As Chairperson of Council, she played a significant role in the WSU turnaround strategy that saw it return to operational and financial stability.

She sees similarities and differences between Walter Sisulu University and Nelson Mandela University.

“They are both very ‘South African’ universities, in that they serve a society that has a large proportion of poor, struggling communities. Sensitivity to that is very important.”

Today, in 2024, money is still a pressing issue for higher education in a country facing the triple threat of poverty, inequality and unemployment within the context of continuous increases in the cost of tertiary education.

“Finance, or lack of funding, is at the centre of the challenges that face all South African universities, and Nelson Mandela University is no different.”

As chair of a public university, which belongs to the people, she will be mindful of the need increase incomving revenue income, over and above fees and government subsidies.

“Third stream income generation has become crucial for sustainability of Institutions of Higher Learning. Mandela University is already engaged in several projects to intensify its third stream income efforts.

“This is an area which offers unlimited growth for the University – in which the capabilities and resources of its various departments can serve to strengthen the relationships between the university and the government and communities of the Eastern Cape, and also with the wider South African society.”

Programmes aimed at enhancing not only the economic value to the university but also the quality of community lives are likely to be more enduring, believes Judge Dambuza.

These include, for example, programmes intended to promote cohesion or symmetries in governance of traditional and urban communities.

“Such programmes would be mutually beneficial areas of partnership between the various spheres of government and the university.”

Her wide-ranging knowledge and experience adds up to making Judge Dambuza keenly aware of the transformative power, and responsibility, of a University in promoting the wellbeing of its students, staff and community. Nonetheless, she relishes the challenges that may lie ahead.

“I’m looking forward, although with a bit of anxiety, to being part of a university that carries this name, and the values that Nelson Mandela espoused, such as integrity, ubuntu, social justice and equality.”

She recognises that, as Chair of Council, she is part of the hierarchy of a university.

“We may seem to sit so far away, removed from what actually is the purpose of the University, but I hope that our work will filter through to students, and help to shape the graduates that Nelson Mandela University sends out into the world.

“South Africa is a wonderfully cosmopolitan place, if only we realised it. I think we are missing out on so much by not appreciating the full value of the diversity that we have.”

And, what one piece of advice might the new Chair of Council give to the school leavers of today?

She advises young people to follow their heart when choosing a profession.

“When it comes to studying, just find what resonates with you in determining your career. Don’t worry about money, choose something that makes you happy while you are studying and carry that through to your career.

“That is, for me, the measure of success: doing what you’re good at and doing it to the best of your ability.

“We  tend to get carried away by other material aspects surrounding us whereas most of what we need is in our immediate surroundings, and what comes from within us.”