Prof Tshepo Madlingozi joins Stellenbosch University’s Centre for Social Justice
Prof Tshepo Madlingozi has been appointed an extraordinary professor at Stellenbosch University’s Centre for Social Justice while serving as a commissioner at the South African Human Rights Commission.
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Stellenbosch University has appointed human rights scholar and activist Tshepo Madlingozi as an extraordinary professor at its Centre for Social Justice.
The appointment strengthens the centre’s research and policy engagement on constitutionalism, reparative justice and human rights.
Madlingozi currently serves as a full-time commissioner at the South African Human Rights Commission, an independent constitutional body mandated to promote and protect human rights.
Trained in both law and sociology, Madlingozi has built a career that combines academic scholarship, community-based advocacy and international human rights engagement. His work focuses on the intersection of decolonisation, reparative justice, human rights and participatory democracy.
In 2024, Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Madlingozi as a full-time commissioner at the SAHRC. At the commission he oversees the anti-racism, education and equality focal areas and chairs the body’s legal and ethics committee, which handles strategic litigation, policy reform and accountability processes.
Before joining the SAHRC, Madlingozi served as director of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at University of the Witwatersrand. He was also an associate professor in the university’s School of Law, where he taught social justice and human rights while supervising postgraduate students.
His activism has also been closely linked with grassroots justice movements. For more than a decade he worked with the Khulumani Support Group, a social movement representing thousands of survivors of apartheid-era human rights violations. He served as advocacy coordinator and later as chairperson, contributing to campaigns for reparations, redress and reconciliation.
Madlingozi’s academic reach extends internationally. He is an adjunct professor at Nelson Mandela University, a visiting professor at the International Institute of Social Studies at Erasmus University Rotterdam, and teaches within the African human rights system through the Vienna Master of Arts in Applied Human Rights.
Welcoming the appointment, Thuli Madonsela, director of the Centre for Social Justice, said the university was honoured to deepen its collaboration with a scholar of Madlingozi’s stature.
“The CSJ, the law faculty and SU in general stands to benefit immensely from a person of his calibre,” Madonsela said.
“Prof Madlingozi is recognised as an authoritative voice on social justice, human rights and transformative constitutionalism and is globally recognised for his academic expertise, prestige and distinct intellectual capacity. His presence will help diversify academic thought and drive research in service of society.”
Madlingozi has maintained intellectual links with Stellenbosch University for several years through lectures, research engagements and collaborative initiatives. His appointment as extraordinary professor will allow him to contribute more directly to the work of the centre and the Faculty of Law through research collaboration, postgraduate supervision, public dialogue and policy engagement.
Reflecting on the appointment, Madlingozi said he was drawn to Stellenbosch University’s efforts to engage critically with its history while contributing to national conversations about justice and transformation.
“Stellenbosch University has been a place that intrigues me,” he said.
“What impresses me is the willingness to take its difficult history seriously and to respond not only with statements, but with centres and programmes that seek to do the work.”
He noted that the appointment coincides with a significant moment in South Africa’s democratic journey, marking three decades since the adoption of the Constitution and the launch of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
“These anniversaries invite us to reflect critically on where we come from and where we are going,” Madlingozi said.