Our Board

CALS has an Advisory Board established in terms of the University Standing Orders for the Creation and Review of Centres whose role is to act in an advisory capacity to the Director, and ensure that CALS’ activities are consistent with its vision and in line with the policies and procedures of the University. In accordance with University policy, our Board consists of a number of positions from within the University, including the Head of the School of Law and the Dean of the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management who chairs the Board. We also have a number of external Board members including leaders of industries such as finance, law and media who are able to use their various expertise to give us direction.

Board members

Prof John Dugard SC

Prof John Dugard founded CALS in 1978 and served as Director from then until 1990. He is considered one of the pre-eminent scholars of International Law and has served as a professor at the Wits School of Law from 1969 - 1998, followed by the University of Leiden and the University of Pretoria. Since leaving Wits, he has worked as the Director of Lauterpacht Centre for International Law in Cambridge, as a member and Special Rapporteur at the United Nations International Law Commission, as the Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory at the United Nations, and as a member of the Technical Committee for Drafting of the Bill of Rights for the 1996 South African Constitution. He is currently a member of the Institut de droits international and a judge at the International Court of Justice. He is a recipient of the Order of the Baobab and the author of several books including the seminal International Law: A South African Perspective, now in its fourth edition. 

Prof Tshepo Madlingozi

Prof Tshepo Madlingozi joined CALS as Director in 2019. Prof Madlingozi holds a PhD from the University of London, as well as two Masters degrees in law and sociology from the University of Pretoria, where he was based for over 16 years. Prof Madlingozi has shown a deep commitment to social justice not only through his teaching and extensive publication record, but also in his activism. Over the past 13 years, he served as the national advocacy co-ordinator and a board member of the Khulumani Support Group, which represents over 85,000 victims and survivors of apartheid-era gross human rights violations. In addition to his work at Khulumani, has served on the boards of a number of human rights and social justice organisations and consulted for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

Basani Maluleke 

Basani Maluleke qualified as an attorney at Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs, after which she joined the corporate finance team at First Rand Bank, RMB. There, she was a member of the teams that pioneered the structuring and implementation of BEE ownership transactions for JSE-listed companies. She subsequently joined the FNB Division as the Head of Private Clients. Ms Maluleke has accumulated over 10 years of financial services experience in the areas of corporate finance, banking and private equity. She is an admitted attorney of the High Court. She is also a fellow of the African Leadership Initiative and the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She joined the executive team of African Bank as Group Executive Head, Operations on 3 July 2017 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer of African Bank on 1 April 2018.

Prof Bonita Meyersfeld

Bonita Meyersfeld is an associate professor at the Wits School of Law and former Director of CALS. She is an editor of the South African Journal on Human Rights and the founding member and chair of the board of Lawyers against Abuse. Prof Meyersfeld teaches international law, business and human rights and international criminal law. Prior to working in South Africa, Bonita worked as a legal advisor in the House of Lords in the United Kingdom and as a gender consultant to the International Centre for Transitional Justice in New York. She obtained her LLB from Wits and her masters and doctorate in law from Yale Law School. She is the author of Domestic Violence and International Law.

Kameshni Pillay SC

Kameshni Pillay was admitted an advocate at the Johannesburg Bar in 2001 and was confirmed as senior counsel in 2014. She currently practices as a senior member at Duma Nokwe Group of Advocates. Adv Pillay holds a BA, LLB and LLM from Wits University. She has acted as an evidence leader for the Marikana Commission of Inquiry as well as the Commission for Fee Free Higher Education and Training. She has also practised as an attorney at the Legal Resources Centre, and served as a Board member for Legal Aid South Africa and Equal Education Law Centre.

Prof Engela Schlemmer

Prof Engela Schlemmer is the Head of the Wits School of Law and Assistant Dean of Academic Planning in the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management. She is an Associate Editor of the South African Yearbook of International Law and currently sits on the Judicial Service Commission. Her research focuses on international economic law, international transport law and in particular the international law on foreign investment. 

Nompumelelo Seme

Nompumelelo Seme is a SECTION27 and CALS board member with expertise in commercial litigation. She has been a legal advisor at Eskom where she honed her expertise in commercial litigation before her current position as lecturer at Wits University. She holds an LLB (cum laude), and a BA in English and Psychology from Wits University and is currently pursuing her Masters in Tax Law. 

Prof Imraan Valodia (Chair)

Prof Valodia is the Dean of the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management at Wits University. He has a doctorate in Economics from UKZN and his research interests include employment, the informal economy, gender, and industrialisation. He is currently coordinating an international study, in 10 cities, of the informal economy. His most recent book reports on the methodology and research findings of a three-year research project, conducted in eight countries, on the gender impacts of taxation. He has published in leading international journals and is one of only a handful of South African economists with an NRF B-rating. He serves on a number of economic policy forums and has worked with leading international development organisations, including the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, the United Nations Development Programme, UN Women, the World Bank, and Women in Informal Employment: Globalising and Organising, among others. Prof Valodia is a part-time member of the Competition Tribunal and a Commissioner on the Employment Conditions Commission.