Mandisa Maya

Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya was born on March 20, 1964 and is the Chief Justice of South Africa. She was formerly president of the Supreme Court of Appeal from 2017 to 2022 before her elevation to Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa in September 2022. She joined the bench in May 2000 as a judge of the Transkei Division of the High Court of South Africa and was elevated to the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2006. Born in the Eastern Cape, she began her legal career in the Transkei working as a prosecutor and state law adviser until her admission as an advocate in 1994. She was the first black woman to serve in the Supreme Court of Appeal, as well as that courts first woman deputy president and first woman president. In July 2024 President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Maya as South Africas first female Chief Justice, effective September 1, 2024.