{{Short description|South African judge}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}} {{Use South African English|date=February 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = Dunstan Mlambo | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | caption = | office = Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa | term_start = 1 August 2025 | term_end = | nominator = Judicial Service Commission | appointer = President Cyril Ramaphosa | predecessor = Mandisa Maya | successor = | office2 = Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa | nominator2 = Judicial Service Commission | appointer2 = President Jacob Zuma | predecessor2 = Bernard Ngoepe | successor2 = <!--Can be repeated up to eight times by changing the number--> | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1959|09}} | birth_place = Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, South Africa | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | birth_name = | party = | other_party = <!--For additional political affiliations--> | spouse = Cynthia Ramashela<ref name=Consultus1998/> | partner = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married--> | relations = | children = 4: Nhlanhla, Thulani, Thato, Khutso<ref name="Newgen"/> | alma_mater = University of the North | occupation = Judge | profession = Jurist | signature = | website = | footnotes = | term_start2 = 1 November 2012 | term_end2 = 1 August 2025 | 1namedata = | order = 9th }} '''Dunstan Mlambo''' (born September 1959) is a South African judge serving as Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2025-07-31 |title=Justice Mlambo appointed Deputy Chief Justice of SA {{!}} SAnews |url=https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/justice-mlambo-appointed-deputy-chief-justice-sa |access-date=2025-08-02 |website=www.sanews.gov.za |language=en}}</ref> Formerly Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa.<ref name=Newgen>{{cite news|title='I'm a new-generation judge'|url=http://www.citypress.co.za/features/im-a-new-generation-judge-20120512/|accessdate=25 February 2014|newspaper=City Press|date=12 May 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024134507/http://www.citypress.co.za/features/im-a-new-generation-judge-20120512/|archivedate=24 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The South African Judiciary – Judiciary |url=http://www.justice.gov.za/ocj/about-jud.html |publisher=Department of Justice and Constitutional Development |accessdate=1 March 2014 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301060751/http://www.justice.gov.za/ocj/about-jud.html |archivedate=1 March 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Since 2002 he has also served as the chairperson of Legal Aid South Africa which provides legal aid to those who cannot afford it,<ref name=Newgen/><ref>{{cite web|title=Our board|url=http://www.legal-aid.co.za/?p=20|publisher=Legal Aid South Africa|accessdate=27 February 2014}}</ref> and is a trustee of the Legal Resources Centre public interest law clinic.<ref>{{cite web|title=LRC Trustees|url=http://www.lrc.org.za/about-us/lrc-trustees-staff|publisher=LRC|accessdate=26 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318042610/http://www.lrc.org.za/about-us/lrc-trustees-staff|archive-date=18 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Wits>{{cite web|title=LRC Oral History Project – Dunstan Mlambo|url=http://www.historicalpapers.wits.ac.za/inventories/inv_pdft/AG3298/AG3298-1-113-text.pdf|publisher=Wits University|accessdate=26 February 2014}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Mlambo was born in Bushbuckridge and grew up in Barberton in Mpumalanga. His father was an apolitical civil servant and his uncle Johnson Mlambo was a political prisoner on Robben Island. After matriculating from Thembeka High School in the KaNyamazane township of Nelspruit in 1979, he studied law at the University of the North where he completed his B.Proc. degree in 1983. In 1987 he was admitted to the fellowship programme of the Legal Resources Centre in Johannesburg, targeted at black law graduates,<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Sarat|editor1-first=Austin|editor2-last=Scheingold|editor2-first=Stuart|title=Cause Lawyering: Political Commitments and Professional Responsibilities|date=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195354478|page=410|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5pTnHeIfMUC}}</ref> and in 1990 he was admitted as an attorney.<ref name=Consultus1998>{{cite journal|title=The judges of the Labour Court|journal=Consultus|date=May 1998|volume=11|issue=1|pages=26–27|url=http://www.sabar.co.za/law-journals/1998/may/1998-may-vol011-no1-pp26-27.pdf|publisher=General Council of the Bar of South Africa|accessdate=25 February 2014}}</ref><ref name=Newgen/><ref name=Wits/>
==Judicial career== Mlambo was appointed as an acting judge in the Labour Court and a judge in the Labour Appeal Court in 1997.<ref name=Consultus1998/> He subsequently served as a judge in the South Gauteng High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal.<ref name=Newgen/> Prior to his appointment as High Court Judge President, he was Judge President of the Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court.<ref name=Newgen/> During his term of office as Judge President of the Labour Court, he was critical of the practice of labour brokering which deprives employees of labour law protection.<ref>{{cite news|title=SA firms shirk labour laws – judge|url=http://www.fin24.com/Economy/SA-firms-shirk-labour-laws-judge-20120802|accessdate=26 February 2014|newspaper=News24|date=2 August 2012}}</ref>
Mlambo was appointed Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court by President Jacob Zuma effective from 1 November 2012, succeeding Bernard Ngoepe.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mooki|first=Omphitlhetse|title=Never mind newspaper story, the best man got the job|url=http://www.iol.co.za/the-star/never-mind-newspaper-story-the-best-man-got-the-job-1.1283206|accessdate=8 March 2014|work=The Star|location=South Africa|date=25 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Zuma appoints judges to high courts|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2012-05-24-zuma-appoints-judges/|accessdate=25 February 2014|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|location=South Africa|date=24 May 2012}}</ref> He stated in his CV that he had "devoted his practice of law towards the upliftment and protection of people on the ground as a public interest lawyer and trade union lawyer".<ref name=Newgen/> During a speech made shortly after he took office, he said he would ensure that "access to justice becomes what it should be".<ref>{{cite news|last=Ngoepe|first=Karabo|title=Judge president hands over baton|url=http://www.iol.co.za/pretoria-news/judge-president-hands-over-baton-1.1417854#.Uw4Uo-OSyyg|accessdate=26 February 2014|newspaper=Pretoria News|date=5 November 2012}}</ref> Mlambo was appointed Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa by President Cyril Ramaphosa effective from 1 August 2025, taking over from the acting Deputy Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.<ref name=":0" />
==Notable judgements== In ''Multichoice (Proprietary) Limited and Others v National Prosecuting Authority and Another'', an application made by eNCA, MultiChoice and Eyewitness News (Primedia) to the High Court in Pretoria to broadcast the proceedings of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial to be held in the court from 3 to 20 March 2014 was opposed by the defence team.<ref>{{cite news|title=Media apply to broadcast Oscar trial|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Media-apply-to-broadcast-Oscar-trial-20140218|accessdate=26 February 2014|newspaper=News24|date=18 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Pistorius trial: Court to rule on media houses application|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2014-02-25-pistorius-trial-court-to-rule-on-media-houses-application|accessdate=26 February 2014|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|location=South Africa|date=25 February 2014}}</ref> On 25 February 2014, Mlambo ruled that the entire trial proceedings may be broadcast live via audio and that parts of the trial may be broadcast live via television, subject to various restrictions to minimise any impact on the trial proceedings. The parts that he permitted to be broadcast audiovisually were the opening and closing arguments, the testimony of consenting state witnesses, the judgement, and the sentencing if applicable. His ruling took into account the right to freedom of expression and the defendant's right to a fair trial. His reasons for allowing live broadcasting of the trial included dispelling perceptions that the rich and famous receive preferential treatment from the justice system, enabling public access to an unedited firsthand account of the trial, and educating the public about criminal proceedings in general.<ref>{{cite SAFLII|link=|litigants=Multichoice (Proprietary) Limited and Others v National Prosecuting Authority and Another|court=ZAGPPHC|year=2014|num=37|courtname=auto}}</ref><ref name=duPlessis>{{cite news |last=du Plessis |first=Charl |title=Oscar trial to be broadcast live, court rules |url=http://www.citypress.co.za/news/oscar-trial-broadcast-live-court-rules/ |accessdate=25 February 2014 |newspaper=City Press |date=25 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140423171521/http://www.citypress.co.za/news/oscar-trial-broadcast-live-court-rules/ |archivedate=23 April 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Oscar Pistorius trial can be broadcast live on TV, court rules|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/feb/25/oscar-pistorius-trial-broadcast-live-tv-south-africa|accessdate=26 February 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|date=25 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=A ruling on broadcasting the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius (video)| date=25 February 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES_HLNtSEG4|publisher=SABC News|accessdate=26 February 2014}}</ref> The ruling was welcomed by members of the South African media, who described it as a groundbreaking decision supporting freedom of expression, freedom of the media, open justice and democracy.<ref name=duPlessis/><ref>{{cite news|title=Oscar media ruling welcomed|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/oscar-media-ruling-welcomed-1.1652653#.Uw3fkuOSyyg|accessdate=26 February 2014|newspaper=Independent Online|location=South Africa|date=25 February 2014}}</ref> In a cartoon by Zapiro published in ''The Times'' on 27 February 2014, Pistorius is depicted walking a tightrope between the justice system representing the right to a fair trial and the media representing the public's right to know.<ref>{{cite web|title=140227tt – Oscar Pistorius – Right to a Fair Trial vs Public's Right to Know|url=http://www.zapiro.com/cartoon/2104865-140227tt#.UymzZ6iSyyg|publisher=Zapiro|accessdate=19 March 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319151623/http://www.zapiro.com/cartoon/2104865-140227tt#.UymzZ6iSyyg|archivedate=19 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In his judgement Mlambo granted ultimate discretion regarding what may be broadcast to the presiding judge in the trial, namely Thokozile Masipa.<ref>{{cite news|last=Venter|first=Zelda|title=Blow-by-blow Oscar show|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/blow-by-blow-oscar-show-1.1652733#.UxySbT-Syyg|accessdate=9 March 2014|newspaper=Pretoria News|date=26 February 2014}}</ref> The trial was interrupted on the second day after it transpired that eNCA was showing a still photograph of a non-consenting state witness onscreen while broadcasting her audio testimony. Masipa subsequently instructed the court that no photographs of any non-consenting witnesses may be used in the media, regardless of the source of the photographs.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pistorius judge warns media on witness photos|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Oscar_Pistorius/Pistorius-judge-warns-media-on-witness-photos-20140304|accessdate=9 March 2014|newspaper=News24|date=4 March 2014}}</ref> On 10 March 2014, Masipa ruled that the forensic pathologist's post mortem evidence may not be broadcast live, including verbatim tweeting and blogging,<ref>{{cite news|last=Gifford|first=Gill|title=Oscar Trial: autopsy evidence may not be broadcast live|url=http://www.enca.com/south-africa/oscar-trial-autopsy-evidence-may-not-be-broadcast-live|accessdate=10 March 2014|newspaper=eNCA|date=10 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Judge clarifies Pistorius media order|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Oscar_Pistorius/Judge-clarifies-Pistorius-media-order-20140310|accessdate=10 March 2014|newspaper=News24|date=10 March 2014}}</ref> but reversed her ban on live tweeting and blogging the following day.<ref>{{cite news|last=Germaner|first=Shain|title=Court focuses on Reeva's last meal|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/court-focuses-on-reeva-s-last-meal-1.1659371|accessdate=11 March 2014|work=The Star|location=South Africa|date=11 March 2014}}</ref>
A state witness was harassed telephonically after his cellphone number was read out in court during cross-examination by the defence team on the second day of the trial.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pistorius trial: Third witness's privacy is compromised|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2014-03-05-third-witnesss-privacy-compromised-after-cell-number-revealed|accessdate=12 March 2014|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|location=South Africa|date=5 March 2014}}</ref>
In his ''Business Day'' column published on 13 March 2014, Caxton Professor of Journalism at Wits University Anton Harber stated that the trial represents a turning point for local newspapers unable to compete with "the speed and conversational nature of electronic media". He also notes that the fact that the presiding judge has "her finger on the off button for live broadcast" is restraining the behaviour of the media.<ref>{{cite news|last=Harber|first=Anton|title=Pistorius trial represents a turning point for the dailies|url=http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2014/03/13/pistorius-trial-represents-a-turning-point-for-the-dailies|accessdate=16 March 2014|newspaper=Business Day|date=13 March 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314022225/http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2014/03/13/pistorius-trial-represents-a-turning-point-for-the-dailies|archivedate=14 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mlambo, Dunstan}} Category:Living people Category:People from Bushbuckridge Local Municipality Category:20th-century South African judges Category:21st-century South African judges Category:University of Limpopo alumni Category:Judges of the Gauteng High Court Category:Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal (South Africa) Category:1959 births