Bongani Majola

Bongani Christopher Majola is an advocate of the High Court of South Africa, an academic, human rights scholar, and the previous Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). He currently serves as the chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission.

Academic background

South African studies Bongani Majola did his studies in law at the University of Zululand and obtained a Public Service Law Diploma in 1975, a Public Service Senior Law Certificate in 1977 and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 1982. From 1982 to 1988 he was a senior lecturer and the Associate Professor of Law at the University of Bophuthatswana where he was responsible for teaching law courses to undergraduate and postgraduate students.

International studies Majola obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from Harvard Law School in 1988.

Career

Early career Majola's career began as an Administrative Clerk and Clerk of the Magistrate's Court from 1971 to 1974 in the Madadeni district in KwaZulu-Natal,

Legal Resources Centre

After his academic career Majola moved to Johannesburg in 1996 where he was appointed the National Director of the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), which is a non-profit public interest law organisation that defends poor and marginalised people in South Africa. During his time at the LRC he was involved with the Treatment Action Campaign in 2002 in relation to the "constitutional provisions dealing with the right of access by poor people to medical [health] care." On the 21st anniversary of the LRC, Majola wrote an article about the significant contributions made by the LRC to the "development of a human rights jurisprudence and the strengthening of constitutional democracy" in South Africa.

United Nations

ICTR Deputy Chief Prosecutor In January 2003 Majola left the LRC to become the Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the UN ICTR His work included supporting the Chief Prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow in "the prosecution of suspects indicted for international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the Rwandan genocide of 1994."

ICTR Assistant Secretary-General

After 10 years as the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the ICTR, Majola was appointed by Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, as the Assistant Secretary-General of the UN and Registrar of the ICTR. His duties also included being the head of the ICTR administration where he provided court management services, staff management, administrative support and Majola "handled related litigation within the UN internal justice system." Majola's seven-year term commenced on 3 January 2017.