WeeklySA_AdminCONTRIBUTION: Honorary doctorate recognises the retired Constitutional Court judge as he leads the inquiry into alleged corruption in law enforcement — and challenges graduates to put their knowledge to work for society…
By Own Correspondent
The University of Fort Hare has conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws on Justice Mbuyiseli Mdlanga, recognising a career devoted to constitutional justice and public service as he leads the national inquiry into alleged corruption in South Africa’s criminal justice system.
Receiving the degree, honoris causa, at the university’s Spring Graduation in Alice today, Madlanga challenged the 395 graduates to measure their education by the contribution they make beyond the university gates.
“A university’s influence is thus measured not only by what happens within its walls, but also by what its graduates go on to imagine, create, and contribute beyond the university itself,” he said.
His message of service carries particular significance amid his work as chairman of the Madlanga Commission, which is investigating allegations that criminal syndicates have infiltrated institutions entrusted with protecting the public and upholding the law.
Established by President Cyril Ramaphosa in July 2025 following allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the inquiry’s mandate extends beyond the South African Police Service to metropolitan police departments, the National Prosecuting Authority, intelligence structures and other parts of the criminal justice system. It must recommend measures including prosecutions, disciplinary action and institutional reform where warranted.
Under Madlanga’s chairmanship, the commission has already produced two interim reports. According to the Presidency, its second report recommended disciplinary proceedings and immediate investigations into alleged criminal conduct, with prosecutions to follow where sufficient evidence exists. On September 19, Ramaphosa extended the final reporting deadline to January 25 2027.
At Fort Hare, university leaders placed Madlanga’s continuing service alongside his contribution from the Constitutional Court bench. Council chairperson Dr Siyanda Makaula said the honorary degree recognised more than individual accomplishment. “It recognises not merely what an individual has learned, but what humanity has gained through that individual’s contribution,” he said.
Makaula described Madlanga’s journey from the rural Eastern Cape to the Constitutional Court as an extraordinary intellectual achievement, distinguished further by how he had exercised the authority entrusted to him.
“Through your jurisprudence, you have defended human dignity, constitutional rights and institutional independence. Through your leadership and your continuing public service, you have demonstrated that the pursuit of justice does not end with judicial office.”
Madlanga, in turn, used the occasion to reflect on the responsibilities of universities and the conditions students need to succeed. Universities, he said, must develop graduates who think critically, question prevailing assumptions and help solve society’s problems. “They cannot merely be repositories of knowledge, but institutions of foresight, imagination, and societal problem-solving.”
His relationship with Fort Hare also gave the address a personal dimension. During a period of long leave from the Constitutional Court, he served as a visiting professor teaching constitutional law.
He arrived expecting to share lessons from legal practice and the bench. “What I did not anticipate was how much I would learn in return,” he said.
Students’ questions about the origins, meaning and importance of legal principles reminded him that studying law involved more than acquiring technical skills: it required the cultivation of sound judgment. “When my teaching stint came to an end, I left Fort Hare deeply inspired and profoundly hopeful, hopeful for our future,” he said.
He pointed to the achievements of Fort Hare law students Babalwa Mofokeng and Christian Buthelezi, who distinguished themselves in the 2025 Public Interest Law Moot Court Competition at the Constitutional Court before representing Africa at the Price Media Law Moot Court Competition at Oxford University. Their success, he said, demonstrated what becomes possible when talent receives the opportunity to flourish.
“Talent has never been confined to particular institutions, provinces, or communities. What has too often been unevenly distributed is opportunity.”
Madlanga acknowledged the expansion of access to higher education as an enduring achievement of constitutional democracy, but cautioned that admission alone did not guarantee meaningful participation or success.
Drawing on the concept of “epistemic access” — meaningful access to knowledge and learning — he said students needed an environment that enabled them to understand, participate and achieve.
Libraries, laboratories, lecture halls, residences, digital resources, financial security and institutional support all helped determine whether entry into university translated into a real opportunity.
“The question, therefore, cannot simply be: How many young people have been allowed into our universities?” he said. “We must also ask: What have we enabled them to do once they are there? How have we empowered them to give meaning to their presence at the universities?”
Acting vice-chancellor and principal Professor Mzukisi Njotini said the choice of honorary degree recipient reflected the university’s own values and aspirations.
“When a university chooses whom it honours, it also says something about itself,” he said.
Deputy vice-chancellor for teaching and learning, Associate Professor Matshepo Matoane, described Madlanga’s life as an example of the relationship between knowledge, conscience and service.
“History remembers those who exercise power. But humanity remembers those who exercise conscience,” she said.
MIRROR Briefs
BLOW FOR EX-ANC SPOKESPERSON
Former ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe has lost his attempt to halt Special Investigating Unit (SIU) recovery proceedings regarding an irregular R27 million tuk-tuk waste tender, with the Special Tribunal ruling that his application lacked merit and delayed accountability.
The Special Tribunal dismissed the ex-ANC MP’s application to stay proceedings against him and Enviro Mobi (Pty) Ltd and ordered him to pay the legal costs of the application.
Mabe attempted to stop the SIU’s civil recovery until criminal proceedings and a high court review were completed regarding an irregular waste tender. This comes after the Tribunal obtained a preservation order in November 2024 to freeze immovable property in Steyn City, Gauteng and a Porsche 911 Carrera GTS.
SIU’s investigation found serious irregularities in a tender where Enviro Mobi was awarded a R27.6 million contract for 200 three-wheel motorised waste collection vehicles by senior officials of the Gauteng department of agriculture, rural development and environment.
The SIU concluded that the tender process was irregular and orchestrated to channel public funds to Mabe through Enviro Mobi.
Mabe, his wife and four former Gauteng department of agriculture officials, Enviro Mobi and Kariki Media are facing charges for fraud, theft, contraventions of the Public Finance Management Act and the Prevention of Organised Crime Act over the 2017 contract. All are out on bail. – Fullview.
CAMPAIGN TO ENFORCE LEGAL INITIATIONS
The National Department of Traditional Affairs and the North West Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department has embarked on an awareness campaign to reinforce lawful traditional practices under the Customary Initiation Act of 2021.
According to Section 26 (02) of the Customary Act, registering an initiation school is mandatory. It must also be done at least three months before the commencement of the initiation season.
The programme was coordinated in preparation for the 2026 Summer Initiation Season, which commences on 6 November and 10 December for non-schooling and school-going initiates, respectively, with all initiation pass-out activities set to be concluded on or before January 8, 2027.
The campaign drew together various stakeholders in Mahikeng, including government departments, initiation practitioners, caregivers, parents and prospective initiates as part of efforts to achieve zero deaths and zero illegal initiation schools while strengthening awareness and promoting public participation.
North West Provincial Initiation Coordination Committee (PICC) Deputy Chairperson, Andries Stemmer, highlighted key provisions of the Customary Initiation Act that guide how customary initiation schools ought to function. These include the legal and health requirements, reporting of non-compliance, and responsibilities of all role players. – SAnews
PREMIER ACTS AGAINST WOMEN ABUSE
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has outlined key interventions to strengthen the province’s response to Gender Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF).
This in line with the four-point plan outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa to fight GBVF. These include the National Case-Recovery Operation, forensic backlog reduction, municipal women’s safety audits and alcohol-related violence.
The province has also added a fifth intervention focused on strengthening existing places of safety for vulnerable women through audits of facilities, buildings, staffing and funding gaps, ensuring survivors know where to seek help and that facilities are adequately equipped.
The Premier noted that the province has had an anti-GBVF plan and was not building systems from the ground up.
“What we are doing now is auditing the case numbers that are based, tracking individual recovery action plans, following up on police station failures, especially on lost dockets, protection orders, bail-related safety and family communication, and providing additional support to the affected municipalities in particular, to the municipality of Ekurhuleni.”
“All municipalities agreed to provide an audit, in the next seven days, on the following areas that have been identified: broken streetlights, overgrown spaces and poorly secured parks, abandoned or hijacked buildings, unsafe routes, taxi ranks and facilities and areas that will assist us to get evidence in terms of CCTV cameras and other support systems.” – Lehlohonolo Lehana.
TRIBUTES POUR IN FOR BABSY
South African singer, guitarist and composer Babsy Mlangeni has died at the age of 83 following a short illness.
Mlangeni, born Bernard Mlangeni in Orlando East, Soweto, in 1943, had a career spanning nearly six decades. News of his death prompted tributes from music industry organisations, government officials and members of the public.
The South African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) described Mlangeni as an influential figure in South African music, noting his contribution as a singer, guitarist and composer.
SAMRO notes the passing of veteran singer, guitarist and composer, Babsy Mlangeni, the organisation said. “Born Bernard Mlangeni in Orlando East, Soweto, Mlangeni was an influential voice in South African music for nearly six decades, celebrated for classics such as ‘Sala Emma’, ‘Bua Nnete’ and ‘Botsotso’.”
Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie described Mlangeni as “a musical giant, a pioneer and a voice that became part of the soundtrack of our lives”.
Blind since childhood, Mlangeni attended Athlone School for the Blind in Cape Town, where he learnt to play the guitar. He subsequently developed a career as a singer, guitarist, songwriter and composer despite the barriers facing blind musicians in the South African music industry. – Fullview.
