Thandabantu Nhlapo

Professor Thandabantu Nhlapo is Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cape Town, responsible for the student affairs portfolio, international relations, and development and alumni affairs. Prior to joining UCT, he was Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Social Studies at the University of Swaziland. He also served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Deputy Ambassador at the Embassy of South Africa in Washington, D.C.

In the 1990s, he was Convenor of the Technical Committee on Traditional Leaders, advising the Constitutional Assembly of South Africa on matters relating to traditional leadership and to customary law. Appointed by President Mandela in 1996 as a full-time Commissioner on the South African Law Commission, Prof. Nhlapo was instrumental in developing significant legislation in family law, including the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act. He has served on a number of boards and commissions, including chairing the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims.

He holds a BA (Law) degree from the University of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland (UBLS), an LLB (Honours) from Glasgow University in Scotland and a DPhil in family laws from Oxford University in England. He is the author of two books and has written and spoken widely on issues of women’s rights in family law and of cultural diversity under the South African Constitution.