South African law professor Tshepo Madlingozi has been appointed Chair of a United Nations expert body that deals with racism in policing, IOL reported.
The body is the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement, known as EMLER. It makes proposals to improve accountability and access to justice for Africans and people of African descent whose rights were violated by law enforcement officials.
“Professor Madlingozi’s appointment is a proud moment for South Africa, especially as we mark 30 years since the adoption of our Constitution,” said Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi.
“His work on human rights and social justice has prepared him well for this role. I congratulate him and wish him every success,” Kubayi said.
Madlingozi takes over from Akua Kuenyehia. She resigned as a member and Chair of the Expert Mechanism on 9 February 2026.
Kuenyehia had served as a member and Chair of the body since she was appointed on 15 March 2024.
Madlingozi is a Commissioner at the South African Human Rights Commission, which is an independent constitutional body. He holds Master’s degrees in sociology and in law, as well as a PhD in law.
He currently holds academic posts at Stellenbosch University and Nelson Mandela University. He also holds a post at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
In earlier roles, he taught jurisprudence at the University of Pretoria. He also led the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he taught social justice and human rights.
He was a faculty member of the Vienna Master of Arts in Applied Human Rights in Austria.
For more than 13 years, Madlingozi served as national advocacy coordinator and a board member of the Khulumani Support Group. The group represents more than 85,000 victims and survivors of serious human rights abuses during apartheid.
In that work, he called for reparations, redress and lasting reconciliation for those survivors, according to IOL.
He has also done consulting work for the Pan-African Parliament and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
That work included research on international standards against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, IOL reported.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL. Image: IOL. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice News desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Kgomotso Maake covers news and politics for Tzaneen Voice. Kgomotso reports on government, Parliament, municipalities, courts, crime and service delivery across South Africa, with a close eye on how national decisions reach towns like Tzaneen and the wider Limpopo province. Stories are written in plain English and focus on the facts: who made the decision, what it means, and what happens next.