Mavis Gibson

Mavis Gibson (5 December 1939 – 21 May 2025) was a Zimbabwean lawyer and judge who served on the High Court of Zimbabwe and was the first female and longest serving-justice of the High Court of Namibia.

Early life and education Mavis Gumede was born in Makokoba, a suburb of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe on 5 December 1939. She was the third child of 15 and her father Benjamin Gumede worked as a clerk for the Southern Rhodesia Post Office. including as a Ndebele newscaster for the Rhodesia Broadcasting Services.

Justice Gibson broke new ground in 1984 when she was appointed to the Administrative Court on 1 March before being elevated to the High Court on 15 May of the same year, becoming the first woman to sit on the bench in Zimbabwe’s history.

Gibson was appointed to Zimbabwe's Administrative Court on 1 March 1984 and elevated to the High Court on 15 May the same year, the first woman jurist on that court where she served for eleven years.

Gibson was appointed a Judge of Namibia's High Court on 18 December 1995. At times she also served as an Acting Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Namibia.

Personal life and death Gibson was married to Stuart Gibson until his death in 2001.