Bio

• Currently Dean of Law, University of Zambia

• Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Cape Town.

• Previously holder of the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair in Customary Law, Indigenous Values and Human Rights  at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The Chair was funded and managed by the South African National Research Foundation.

• Previously Warden of All Africa House (a residence for short-term national and international academics visitors to UCT, and established to act as a link between UCT and other academic institution in Africa).

Previous Appointments include:

• Deputy Dean, Faculty of Law, UCT (2003-2005)
• Deputy Dean for Postgraduate studies, Faculty of Law, UCT (2007)
• Akademische Ratin Auf Zeit, University of Bayreuth. Germany (1988-1994)
• Lecturer, School of Law, University of Zambia (1978-1988)
• Assistant Dean, School of Law, University of Zambia (1986-1987)
• Staff Development Fellow, School of Law, University of Zambia (1976-1978)
• Member of the South African Law Commission Project Committee on African Customary Law (2003-2006)

Academic Rating

National Research Foundation (South Africa) Rated Researcher.

Expertise/ Research Interests

Research interests cover the Law of Persons and Marriage, African Customary Law, Comparative African Family Law, Legal Pluralism, Women’s  and Children’s Rights under Customary Law  in Southern Africa and Human Rights as they relate to family law.

Publications

Books/Manuals

• Family and Succession Law in Zambia: Developments Since Independence, 1995, Munster, Lit. Verlag, pp 335.

• Zambia: Family and Succession Law manual, International Encyclopaedia of Laws, 2002, Kluwer Law International Family Law and Succession Law suppl. (June 2008), revised, 1-214.

• Zambia: Family and Succession Law manual, International Encyclopaedia of Laws, 2011, revised, Kluwer Law International, Family Law and Succession Law, Wolters Kluwer Law Business 1-234, revised 2016.

• C Himonga and E Moore Reform of Customary Marriage, Divorce and Succession Living Customary Law and Social Realities, 2015, Juta & Co. (Pty) Ltd pp 374.

Chapters in Books

• ‘The Nature and Concept of Customary Law’ in C Himonga and T Nhlapo, African Customary Law in South Africa Post-Apartheid and Living Law Perspectives (2014), Oxford University Press Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd, 23-39.

• ‘Consequences of Marriage’ in  C Himonga and T Nhlapo, African Customary Law in South Africa Post-Apartheid and Living Law Perspectives (2014), Oxford University Press Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd, 23-39.

• ‘Dissolution of a Customary Marriage by Divorce in J Heaton (ed) The Law of Divorce and Dissolution of Life Partnerships in South Africa’ (2014), Juta & Co. Ltd, 231-278.

• (with Hagg, G) ‘Twenty Years of Reconciling Traditional Governance with Modern Democracy’ in Meyiwa, T, Nkondo, M, Chitiga-Mabugu, M, Sithole, M, Francis Nyamnjoh, State of the Nation 2014.South Africa 1994-2014: A Twenty-Year Review (2014), HSRC Press, 106-126.

• (With Pope), Mayelane v Ngwenyama and Minister for Home Affairs: A Refection on Wider Implications, in Claassens, A and Smythe, D (ed) (2013), Marriage, Land and Custom, Juta & Co. Ltd, 318-338.

• ‘Constitutional Rights of Women under Customary Law in Southern Africa: Dominant Interventions and "Old Pathways"’ in B Baines et al (Ed) Feminist Constitutionalism Global perspectives (2012) Cambridge University Press 317-335.

• ‘Taking the Gap – “Living Law Land Grabbing” in the Context of Customary Succession Laws in Southern Africa’ in H Mostert and T Bennett (ed) Pluralism and Development Studies in Access to Property in Africa (2012)  ACTA Juridica 114-139.

• ‘Exploring the Concept of Ubuntu in the South African Legal System’ in U Kischel et al Ideologie und Weltschauung im Recht (2012) Mohr Siebeck 1- 22 (peer reviewed conference proceedings).

• ‘The Future of Living Customary Law in African Legal Systems in the Twenty-First Century and Beyond with Special Reference to South Africa’ in J Fenrich et al  (ed) The Future of African Customary Law (2011) Cambridge University Press  31-57,

• (with J Stewart) ‘Teaching Women, Social Realities, Family and the Law’ in African Legal Systems’ in A Tsanga/J Stewart Women and Law: Innovative Approaches to Teaching, Research and Analysis (2011) Weaver Press 223-257.

• ‘The Response of State Law to Religious, Linguistic, Cultural and Ethnic Diversity in Zambia’ in Marie-Claire Foblets et al (eds) Cultural Diversity and the Law: State Responses from Around the World, Conference Proceedings (2010), Bruylant 306-331.

• ‘African Customary Law and Children’s Rights: Intersections and Domains in a New Era’ in Julia Sloth-Nielsen (ed) (2008) Children’s Rights in Africa A Legal Perspective, Ashgate Publishing Company Limited 73-91.

• Taking Stock of Changes to Customary Law in a New South Africa’ in Essays in Honour of AJ Kerr (2006), Butterworths Lexis Nexis, 215-235.

•  Revision of Wille's Principles of South African Law (2007), Francois Dubois (ed) Juta & CO, 145-386:

• Chapter 8 Birth, name, domicile and death;
• Chapter 9 - Unborn persons;
• Chapter 10 - Females;
• Chapter 11 - Children (minors);
• Chapter 12 - Extra-marital children;
• Chapter 13 - Marriage;
• Chapter 14 - (with Dubois) Life partnerships; and
• Chapter 15 - Mentally incapacitated persons.

•  (With R Manjoo), ‘What’s in a Name? The Identity and Reform of Customary Law in South Africa’s Constitutional Dispensation’ in MO Hinz, (ed), The Shade of New Leaves: Governance in African Tradition a Southern Africa Perspective (2006) Muster Lit 329-350.

• 'Law and Gender in Southern Africa: Human Rights and Family Law' in York Bradshaw and Stephen Ndegwa (eds.) The Uncertain Promise of Southern Africa (2000), University Press, 275-300.

• `The Right of the Child to Participate in Decision-Making: A Perspective from Zambia', W Ncube (ed) Law, Culture Tradition and Children's Rights in Eastern and Southern Africa (1998), Ashgate Dartmouth, 95-128.

• 'Law and Culture in South Africa: Towards an Understanding of a Pluralistic Legal system', Roger Blanpain (ed.), Law in Motion (1997), The Hague, Kluwer International (Conference proceedings), 75-98.

• ‘Recent Developments in Succession Law' (joint with U. Spellenberg, K. Adjamagbo-Johnson) R Blanpain (ed.) Law in Motion (1997), Kluwer Law International (Conference proceedings), 711-749.

• 'Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project: Bridging the Divide between Scholarship and Action', in Mechthild, R., and Ludwar-Ene, G., eds.), Gender and Identity in Africa (1995), Hamburg, Lit Verlag, 197-214.

• 'Protection of Widows and Administration of Customary Estates in Zambian Courts', in Ludwar-Ene, G.,/Reh, M., (eds), Gros-Plan sur les Femmes en Afrique/Afrikanische Frauen im Blick/Focus on Women in Africa (1993), University of Bayreuth African Studies Series, 159-195.

• 'Integration of Family Law in Zambia: Marriage and Succession Law' in J Abun-Nasr/U. Spellenberg/U. Wanitzek Law, Society and National Identity in Africa (1990), Hamburg, Helmut Buske Verlag, 163-182.

• International 'Kidnapping' of Children and Determination of Custody: An African Perspective' 9th Commonwealth Law Conference, Conference Papers (1990), Commerce Clearing House, New Zealand Ltd., 291-300.

• 'An Outline of the Legal Status of Women in Zambia', with K. Turner, & C. Beyani, in J. Stewart/A. Armstrong (eds), The Legal Situation of Women in Southern Africa (1990), University of Zimbabwe Publications, 139-164.

• 'Legal Scholarship in Zambia' (joint), Guadagni, M. (ed.), Legal Scholarship in Africa, (1989), Università degli studi di Trento, 175-201.

• (with C. Beyani) ,'Access to Legal Education and the Legal Profession in Zambia', in N. Kibble/R. Dhavan/W.L. Twining (eds.), Access to Legal Education and the Legal Profession (1989) London, Butterworths, 234-244.

• 'Property Disputes in Law and Practice: Dissolution of Marriage in Zambia', Armstrong, A., (ed) Women and Law in Southern Africa (1987), Harare, Zimbabwe Publishing House, 56-84.

Articles

• K Button, E Moore and C Himonga ‘South Africa’s System of Dispute Resolution Forums: The Role of the Family and the State in Customary Marriage Dissolution’ Journal of Southern African Studies (2016) 42(2) 299-316).

• (with L, London et al) ‘Social Solidarity and the Right to Health: Essential Elements for People-Centred Health Systems’ (2014), Health Policy and Planning, vol 30, issue 7, 938-945.

• (with Stuttaford, M et al) ‘The Right to Traditional, Complementary, and Alternative Health’ Care (2014) Global Health Action, 1- 8, http://www.globalhealthaction.net/index.php/gha/article/view/24121.

• (with A Pope, M Taylor) ‘Reflections on Judicial views on uBuntu’ Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal - PELJ 2013(16) (5) http://www.nwu.ac.za/p-per/2013(16)5.

• ‘Right to Health in an African Cultural Context: the Role of Ubuntu in the Realisation of the Right to Health with Special Reference to South Africa’ (2013) Journal of African Law 57-2, 165-195.

• (with A Pope) ‘Mayelane v Nwenyama and Minister for Home Affairs: A Reflection on Wider Implications’ (2013) ACTA Juridica 318-338.

• ‘Taking the gap - 'Living Law land Grabbing' in the Context of Customary Succession Laws in Southern Africa’ (2011) ACTA Juridica 114-139.

• ‘State and Individual Perspectives of a Mixed Legal System in Southern African Contexts with Special Reference to Personal Law’ (2010) Tulane European and Civil Law Forum vol. 25, 23-36.

• ‘Goals and Objectives of Law Schools in their Primary Role of Educating Students: South Africa – The University of Cape Town School of Law Experience’ (2010) Penn State International Law Review vol 29, number 1, 41-59.

• Review article, Women and Custom in Namibia: Cultural Practice Versus Gender Equality? OC Ruppel (ed), Macmillan education, Windhoek, 2008, pp 228 in Namibia Law Journal Vol 1 Issue 1 January 2009, 123-127.

• (with Rashida Manjoo) ‘The Challenges of Formalisation, Regulation and Reform of Traditional Courts in South Africa’ (2009) Malawi Law Journal, 3, 2, 157-181.

• ‘Zambia, Breaking the Tie, Enduring Fragmentation, and Reform Beyond 2007: the Matrimonial Causes Law’ (2008) International Survey of Family Law 497-523.

• (with Anita Cook) ‘A Child’s Autonomy with Special Reference to Reproductive Medical Decision-Making in South African Law: Mere Illusion or Real Autonomy? (2007) 15 The International Journal of Children’s Rights 323-363.

• ‘African Customary law in South Africa – Many Faces of Bhe v Magistrate Khayelitsha’ (2005) Recht in Afrika 163-183.

• ‘The Advancement of African Women’s Rights in the First Decade of Democracy in South Africa: the Reform of the Customary Law of Marriage and Succession’ (2005) Acta Juridica 82-107.

• 'Transforming the Family Law Landscape: The Role of the Courts (South Africa) (2003) International Survey of Family Law, 421-437.

• 'Inheritance Conflicts over the Matrimonial Home: Safeguarding the Family against Homelessness (Zambia)' (2003) The International Survey of Family Law 461-469.

• 'Implementing the Rights of the Child in African Legal Systems: The Mthembu Journey in Search of Justice' (2002) International Journal of Children's Rights 9, 89-122.

• ‘Zambia: Protecting the Minor Child's Inheritance Rights' (2001)The International Survey of Family Law 457-473.

• (with Craig Bosch) ‘The Application of Customary Law under the Constitution of South Africa: Problems Solved or Just Beginning? (2000) SALJ Vol. 117 306-341.

• 'A Legal System in Transition, Cultural Diversity and National Identity in Post Apartheid South Africa' (1998) Recht in Africa Law in Africa (Geselleschaft fur Afrikanisches Recht), heft 1, 1-23.

• (with Armstrong et al) ‘Towards a Cultural Understanding of the Interplay between Children's and Women's Rights: An Eastern and Southern African Perspective’ (1995) no 3, 334-368.

• ‘The Dual Family Law System in Zambia: Co-Existence and Operation' (1994), Law and Anthropology (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers), 7, 239-260.

• (With Armstrong et al)'Uncovering Reality: Excavating Women's Rights in African Family Law', (1993), International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, vol. 7, 3, 271-368.

• ‘The Integration of the Laws of Succession in Zambia' (1991) Verfassung Recht in Übersee (4), 337-61.

• 'Rural Women's Access to Agricultural Land in Settlement Schemes in Zambia: Law, Practice and Socio-economic Constraints' (joint) (1991) (Third World Legal Studies, 59-74.

• 'The Legal Position of Women in Zambia: Research Methodologies and Application', in Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project) (1990) Perspectives on Research Methodology (Working Paper No. 2), Harare, Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project, 24-39.

• ‘The Law of Succession and Inheritance in Zambia and the Proposed Reform' (1989) International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family ((Oxford University Press), vol. 3, 2, 160-176.

• 'A Reflection on the Validity of the Common Law Marriage in Zambia', Zambia Law Journal (1988) vol. 20, 1-10.

• 'Some Aspects of the Zambian Marriage Act', (1979) Zambia Law Journal (University of Zambia), vol. 2, 23-44.

• ‘Same-sex Unions and Guardianship of Children’ (2004) South African Law Journal Vol 121 (part 4), 730-735

Research Reports

 (With Elena Moore) Reform of Customary Marriage, Divorce and Succession in South Africa: Living Customary Law and Social Realities, 2015, Juta and Co Ltd. 

Key Academic Areas (in addition to research work)

Undergraduate Teaching

Until 2010 when I was awarded the Chair in Customary Law, my teaching at UCT was primarily at undergraduate level in the subjects of Law of Persons and Marriage and African Customary Law.

Postgraduate Teaching

• LLM minor dissertation.
• MPhil thesis.
• Currently supervising 2 LL.M and 3 PhD students.

External Examination

• LLB University of Swaziland (2007-2008)
• University of the Western Cape (Advanced Family Law) (2005)
• University of Stellenbosch (LL.M thesis) (2003)
• LLB Rhodes University (Law of Persons) (2002-2003)
• LLB Rhodes University (Law of Husband and Wife) (2002-2003)
• LLB University of the Western Cape (Law of Persons) (2002-2007)
• LLM research report University of the Witwatersrand (2000)
• LLB University of the Western Cape (African Customary Law) (1998)
• University of Zambia

Mentorship

I have mentored three young scholars (at the time) into writing and publishing through taking the initiative and lead in joint authorship of publications in my fields of research (i.e. articles with Craig Bosch and Anita Cook, and Max Taylor).

Research Collaboration

I have collaborated in research with scholars at both international and national levels and with academic and non-academic (community-based) partners as follows:

University of Ottawa Research Chair on Legal Diversity and Indigenous Peoples: this international collaboration is with several Universities, and traditional leaders in the collaborating countries to conduct research on the co-existence of aboriginal/indigenous and non- aboriginal/indigenous legal cultures. The project also involves collaboration with the National House of Traditional Leaders who conduct research on aspects of customary law under the direction of my Chair on Customary Law, Indigenous Values and Human Rights at the University of Cape Town.

School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town: I collaborated in an interdisciplinary research project under the auspices of the Programme for Enhancement of Research Capacity (PERC): African Research Project on Knowledge Production. This project, located at the University of Cape Town, was aimed at promoting research capacity by bringing together academics at a range of career stages from numerous disciplines. The collaboration was between researchers at the Universities of the Western Cape, Warwick, Maastricht and 6 civil society organisations in the Western Cape under the umbrella of the Learning Network (LN). The partners in the LN collaborate to develop best practice for realising the right to health. The PERC component to the LN was structured to extend existing research to produce new perspectives on the right to health drawing on ideas rooted in African philosophies, including Ubuntu other than the ‘hegemonic’ ideas arising from Western theorists.

National Movement of  Rural Women (South Africa): This collaboration involved members of a community-based organisation in the collection of data in rural areas of five provinces of South Africa for the empirical research project of my Chair on customary marriage and succession from 2012 to 2013.

Other Scholarly Activities

• I presented a lecture in the series ‘Exploring marriage in the 21^st century: Law, Marriage and Lobola’ (2014).As part of the commitment to increase public engagement with science, The National Research Foundation (SA) has been partnering with universities to host its series for Society and Science lectures since 2011, in collaboration SAfm (radio station) as a media partner with a listenership of over 500 000. The main aim of these lectures are meant to show case work done by different recipients/SARChi Chairs in addressing real challenges that are facing South Africa today.

• In June 2013 I wrote the article for the website below described by the website in the following terms: See article on why the Constitutional Court’s recent Mayelane judgment punishes the wrong people in Tsonga customary marriages, written by Prof Chuma Himonga, National Research Foundation Chair in Customary Law. Visit www.customcontested.co.za

• I held guest lectureships at the University of Bayreuth in 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2006.

• I have lectured as a visiting lecturer in the LL.M programme on Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa at the University of Pretoria (2005, 2006).

• I lectured in the Women’s Law Master Programme at the Southern and Eastern African Regional Centre for Women’s Law (SEARCWL), University of Zimbabwe for several years from 2003. As a regional programme, the Programme draws its Faculty participating Universities in Eastern and Southern Africa and form Norway and Edinburg.

• I serve (since 2004) on the Southern and Eastern African Board, which oversees SEARCWL’s Masters Programme.

• In 1997, I presented the Hans Wolff Memorial lecture at the University of Indiana, Bloomington.

• I have reviewed/assessed several applications for the National Research Foundation rating of academics.

• I have peer-reviewed potential publications for a number of international and national journals, including the South African Journal of Human Rights; South African Law Journal; Stellenbosch Law Review; Journal of Juridical Sciences; Journal of Legal Pluralism, Canadian Journal of African Studies; Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal and the Malawi Law Journal.

• I presented lectures on legal subjects to nursing students in the Department of Nursing, UCT from 1998-2005.

• I was a co-founder of the Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project (WLSA) covering Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in 1988, and I remained a Research Associate of the Project until 1993. WLSA has influenced both legislation and scholarship on the rights of women and the discipline of African Customary Law in Southern Africa since its inception through its grounded research methodology, publications and combined academic/activist orientation.

• I co-facilitated the commencement and methodological workshops for two WLSA studies. The proposed research was on ‘Women and the Administration of Justice Delivery: Problems and Constraints (1998) and ‘Gender Violence and the Administration of Justice’ (May 1999).

• I co-facilitated the workshop on the ‘Role of Lower Courts in the Enforcement of Human Rights and Administration of Justice in the Lower Courts in Malawi and Zambia (Blantyre 28 March - 2 April 2000).

• I co-facilitated the workshop on the ‘Role of Lower Courts in the Enforcement of Human Rights and Administration of Justice in Malawi and Zambia (Lusaka, 19-24 June 2000).

• I participated in the Focus Group Discussion of the South African Law Commission/Department of Welfare and Population Development Project 110 to review the Child Care Act (Bantry Bay, 27 June 2000).

• I was a member of the Zambia Association for Research and Development (1988-2000), an NGO that, among others, influenced the legislative process for the reform of the customary law of succession to the benefit of women and children in Zambia.

• I chaired the seven-member international committee to plan the International Association of Law Schools Educational Conference on ‘Effective Techniques for Teaching about other Cultures and Legal Systems’ held in Montreal, Canada, 30 May 2008.

• I was a member of the International Working Group of legal educators that established the International Association of Law Schools (2004-2005). The membership the Association is open to all Law Schools/Faculties in the world (and it had a total membership of 190 by 2009, a year before I left the Association’s Board).

• I was a member of the Board of the International Association of Law School (2005 to 2010).

• I served on the Conference Advisory Group for the Association of American Law Schools (2004).

• As Warden of All Africa House, I convene public seminars open to the university community and the general public, as well postgraduate seminars open to all postgraduate students at UCT. I host some of these seminars in collaboration with student organisations at UCT. The seminars are aimed at cultivating a culture of debate among students and staff on issues of importance to the African continent, as well as developing student leadership and social skills.

• Since 2010, I have convened and coordinated the All Africa House Fellowship Programme for young academics from Africa outside South Africa, which is funded by the Vice-Chancellor’s Strategic Fund. The Fellowships are for successful candidates to come to UCT to write up completed research for publication, or to develop course materials for teaching in their home institutions. The fellows are hosted by colleagues across the University’s Faculties. As of 2015, 24 Fellows had gone through the programme and some of them have published their work written during their fellowships in books and peer reviewed journals. Some have registered for PhD studies at UCT as a result of their experience with their academic hosts on the programme.

Awards and Grants for Research and Conference Travel

2016: Alan Pifer Research Award, the Vice-Chancellor’s Award, made annually in recognition of outstanding research that demonstrates relevance to the advancement and welfare of South Africa’s disadvantaged people.

1981: The Commonwealth Scholarship award (PhD research)

2002-2006: University of Cape Town Research Committee (URC) grants

2001: University of Bayreuth, travel grant for visiting professorship; Centre for Applied Legal Studies, University of the Witwatersrand to attend a workshop in Johannesburg.

2000:University of Bayreuth, travel grant for visiting professorship; Interights London travel grant to attend a workshop in Blantyre, Malawi; Interights London travel grant to attend a workshop in Zambia; University of Cape Town URC grant.

1999:Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project travel grant to attend a workshop in Swaziland. University of Cape Town URC grant

1998: Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project travel grant to attend a workshop in Gaborone; Children and Law in Eastern and Southern Africa grant to attend a workshop in Harare.

1997: Children and Law in Eastern and Southern Africa travel grant to attend a workshop in Harare; University of Bayreuth travel grant to attend a conference in Bayreuth, Germany; University of Indiana travel grant to present the Hans Wolff Memorial Lecture and attend a workshop in Indiana; University of Witwatersrand Gender Research Project travel grant to attend a workshop in Johannesburg; Commission for Gender Equality travel grant to attend a workshop in Johannesburg; University of Cape Town URC grant

INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL CONFERENCES, AND WORKSHOPS/SEMINARS ORGANISED (* = PRESENTED PAPER)

•  (with International Academic Programme Office , University of Cape Town and  Southern Africa Development Community  Conference  on the Interplay of Customary Law Rights in Land and Legal Pluralism, University of Cape Town, 17 October 2014

•  Seminar on Children: Rights and Research Ethics, by Michael Freeman and Anne Pope, 16 October 2014, University of Cape Town.
  • Freeman: Culture, Childhood and Human Rights
  • Pope: Child Participants, with special reference to section 71 of the National Health Act 61/2003
• Seminar with the School of Public Health and Family Medicine at UCT, 16 October 2012, UCT.
• Select Parliamentary Committee on Security and Constitutional Development Constitutional Development Workshop on Dialogue on the Traditional Courts Bill (30 May 2012, Cape Town).*
• International Workshop on Research in Customary Law (11 September 2011, UCT)
• The UN Rapporteur on Violence Against Women 3rd African Consultation (20-22 January 2012, Lusaka).*
• (with the Jubilee Congress of the Commission on Legal Pluralism and two other Law Faculty units at UCT, the Centre for Legal and Applied Research (CLEAR), and the Chair for Comparative Law in Africa) , Living Realities of Legal Pluralism Conference (8 – 10 September 2011).

INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIA AND WORKSHOPS ATTENDED (* = PRESENTED A PAPER)

 I have attended and presented papers at numerous international and national conferences, including the following:

• LSA/CLS (UCT) Conference on Dynamism, Liminality, and Reality? Policy, Research and the Law in an Afropolitan Era. Cape Town (9-11 December 2016).
• The Africa Studies Association 59^th Annual Meeting “Imagining Africa at the Centre: Bridging Scholarship, Policy and Representation in African Studies”, Washington DC, (1-3 December 2016) (chaired a panel).

• HERS-SA Academy Conference Woodstock, Cape Town (6-11 September 2015.)*

• XVth ISFL World Conference, Recife, Brazil, (August 6-9, 2014).*

• Ubuntu Project colloquium 25 July 2013, University of Pretoria.*

• Onati International Institute for Sociology of Law Workshop on Wealth, Families and Death: Socio-legal Perspectives on Wills and Inheritance (25-26 April 2013, Gipuzkoa, Spain).*

• The Right to Health and Integrated Care: Patient and Provider Perspectives Seminar (7 March 2013, University of Cape Town).

•  Ubuntu Workshop on the “Authority and the Living Customary Law (2 August 2012, Pretoria University).*

•  SEARCWL Colloquium on “Teaching Women’s Law” (23-27 July 2012, Livingstone, Zambia).*

•  UCT Research Office Programme for the enhancement of Research Capacity on doing Research in Africa: Africa-centred research seminar (13 June 2012, UCT).*

•  The Chair for Comparative Law in Africa Methodology Workshop (22-24 October 2012, UCT).*

• First International Colloquium on Transnational Linguistic Repertoires: Communication in Courts and Public Agencies, University of Vienna (2-4 Nov 2011, Vienna).*

• Ergibnisse der 33. Tagung der Gesellschat fur Rechsvergleichung (Colloquium) (15-17 September, 2011 Tier, Germany).*

• The Law Race & Gender Research Unit seminar on “Do Constitutions Matter? Gender Provisions and Women's Equality in Comparative Perspective” (20 July 2012).
• The Law Race & Gender Research Unit & Centre for African Studies seminar on “The Land Question in Sub-Saharan Africa: Longer Term Processes and the Recent "land rush" (23 April 2012, UCT).
• Colloquium on Internationalisation of the Curriculum a Teaching Laboratory (5-6 May 2011, UCT).
• The Law Race & Gender Research Unit seminar on “Informal Land Rights under Siege 18 Years into Democracy” workshop by S Manona (30 March 2012, UCT).
• The Law Race & Gender Research Unit seminar on “The Rights of Women under Customary Law in Southern Africa: Reflecting on the Work of the Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) Research” (2011, UCT).
•  Ubuntu Project workshop on “Indigenous Values and African Thought in the Post Colony” (Aug 2011 University of Pretoria).*
• 1st International Colloquium on Transnational Linguistic Repertoires: Communication in Courts and Public Agencies, University of Vienna (2-4 Nov 2011, Vienna).*
• The Human Science Research Council seminar on Reconciling Africa’s Fragmented Institutions of Governance: A New Approach to Institution Building,  a research project by the Pennsylvania State University (USA) and the Human Sciences Research Council (South Africa) in South Africa, Somaliland, Kenya and Ethiopia (3 August 2011, Pretoria)*
• The Huma World Organisation of Universities meeting on “Uses and Abuses of Culture” (21-23 July 2011, UCT).*
• Programme for Enhancement of Research Capacity seminar on literature review on the right to health from an African perspective research project (19 March 2011, UCT).
• Programme for Enhancement of Research Capacity on the right to health from an African perspective research project (25 September 2011, UCT).
•  Colloquium on Development, Pluralism and Access to Resources, Land Law Watch Research Group (25-27 November 2010, Cape Town).*
• Colloquium on Development, Pluralism and Access to Resources, Land Law Watch Research Group (25-27 November 2010, Cape Town).*
• The Future of the Ubuntu Project, Preliminary Programme Workshop (19-20 August 2010, University of Pretoria).
• International Colloquium on Mixed jurisdictions (14-15 May 2009, Stellenbosch University).*
• Humboldt Kolleg Interdisciplinary Conference on Ubuntu, Humanity and Good Faith/Equity as Flexible Principles in Law and Society in Southern Africa – Appropriate Principles in an Ever-Changing World? North West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 1-3 September 2010.*(Discussant in plenary session).
• International workshop on revisiting communal land tenure: perspectives on households, families, and work form below (4-5 May 2012, Berlin).*
• International Association of Law Schools Conference on Effective Teaching Techniques About Other Cultures and Legal Systems, 30 May 2008, Montreal.*
• International Association of Law Schools Conference on Learning from Each Other: Enriching the Law School Curriculum in an Interrelated World, Soochow University Kenneth Wang School of Law, Suzhou, China, 17-19 October 2007.*
• Colloquium on the Future of Legal education at the University of Zambia, Lusaka, 28-30 April 2008.*
• Law, Dignity and Transformative Constitutionalism Conference University of Cape Town, July 2007.*
• Keynote Address, ‘The Role of the Judiciary in a Democracy’ at the 1st Public Forum on the Ideal Judiciary in Zambia Organised by the Zambia Association of Women Judges and Professional Magistrates Mulungushi International Conference Centre, Lusaka Zambia, 20 July 2007.*
• United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the University of Namibia Expert Meeting on Human Rights and Traditional and  Informal Justice Systems in Africa: Fair Trial ad Equality Before the Law, Windhoek, Namibia, 20-22 June 2007.*
• Law, Language and Politics in South Africa: The Impact of the Constitution the Second Leg of the Gwendolen M Carter Conference University of Cape Town, June 29-July 1 200.*
• The Response of State Law to the Expression of Cultural Diversity (Francqui Foundation) Colloquium 27 September – 1 October 2006, Brussels.*
• The 4th World Congress on Family Law and Children’s Rights 20-23 March 2005, Cape Town.*
• The Association of American Law Schools Conference on Education Lawyers for Translational Challenges 26-29 May 2004, Hawaii.*
• The African Commission on Human and People’ Rights and INTERIGHTS Conference on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights under the African Charter, Pretoria, 13-17 September 2004.*
• Equality and Family Law Processes Conference (3-4 April 2003, Cape Town).
• Workshop on the Planning and Establishment of a regional Masters in Women’s Law degree programme (15-16 April 2003, University of Zimbabwe).
• World Congress on Family Law and the Rights of the Child: International Co-operation for the Protection of Children in the New Millennium (19-22 September 2001, Bath, England).*
• Miller Mdt du Toit Inc. Conference on the Trend from Parental Rights to Parental Responsibilities and Children's Rights (13-14 April 2000, Cape Town).

• The Role of the Lower Courts in the Enforcement of Human Rights and the Administration of Justice in the Lower Courts in Malawi and Zambia Workshop, 28 March - 2 April 2000, Blantyre.*

• The Role of Lower Courts in the Enforcement of Human Rights and  the Administration of Justice in the Lower Courts  in Malawi and Zambia Workshop, 19-24 June 2000, Lusaka.*

• National Conference on Orphans in Zambia (Organised by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (December 1999, Lusaka).

• Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project Workshop (May 1999, Swaziland).

• Children and Law in Eastern and Southern Africa Workshop (July 1998, Harare).

• Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project Workshop (May 1998, Gaborone).

• Sonderforsschungsbereich 214 Identitat in Africa Abschluskolloquium, (8-10 May 1997, University of Bayreuth Germany).  

• Women, Language and Law in Africa workshop (4-6 April 1997, Indiana University, Bloomington).*

• Conference on Cultural Transformation in Africa Legal, Religious and Human Rights Issues, 11-13 March 1997, University of Cape Town).*

• Community Law Centre (UWC) & Portfolio Committee on Welfare and Population Development conference on the Child Welfare Act 26-28 September 1996, Cape Town).*

• Children and Law in Eastern and Southern Africa (CLESA) workshop on Children's Rights (8-12 July 1996, Harare, Zimbabwe).

• Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Trust Workshop on Children's Rights (30 January -3 February 1995, Harare, Zimbabwe).

• Community Law Centre (UWC) & Friedrich Ebert Stiftung conference on the Role of Law in Transition: Dealing With The Past Through Law in South Africa and Germany (30 June-1 July, 1995, Cape Town).

• International Women's Rights Action Watch conference on Women, Family Law and Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (13-15 January 1993, Vienna, Austria).*

• Annual Colloquium of the Sonderforschungs Bereich 214 on Gender and Identity in Africa (9-12 July, 1992, Bayreuth, Germany). *

• Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project Workshop on Gender Analysis (10-21 February 1992, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe).

• Women's Leadership workshop (18-23 January 1991, Vienna, Austria).*

• Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Methodology Workshop (12-16 March 1990, Harare, Zimbabwe).*

• 9th Commonwealth Law conference (16-20 April 1990, Auckland, New Zealand).*

• Continuing Legal Education in the Commonwealth Workshop (12-15 April 1990, Auckland, New Zealand).

• Annual Conference of the Association of African Law (10-12 November 1989, Heidelberg, Germany).*

• Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project Workshop (21-26 August 1988, Harare, Zimbabwe).

• Law and National Identity in Africa Symposium (9-10 July, 1987, Bayreuth, Germany).

• Social Change and Legal Reform in Africa Conference (13-16 January, 1987 Harare, Zimbabwe).*

• Customary Law and Gender Symposium, Commission on Gender Equality (3-4 November 1997).*

• Gender Research Project Workshop on the Harmonisation of the Customary and Civil Law of Marriage (25 October 1996 University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg).*

• South African Law Commission Workshop on the Customary Law of Succession (2 October 2001, Cape Town).

• HERS - SA Workshop on Understanding Your Institution: The Complexity of Providing Higher Education (26-27 September 2001, Cape Town).

• University of the Witwatersrand Centre for Applied Legal Studies Workshop on Strategy on Customary Law and the Constitution (16 July 1997, Johannesburg).*

• Customary Law of Succession Workshop, Centre for Applied Legal Studies, University of Witwatersrand (28 August 2001, Johannesburg).*

• Cohabitation relationships Workshop, Centre for Applied Legal Studies, University of Witwatersrand (20 July 2001, Johannesburg).

• Family Courts in South Africa Conference (15-16 November, 2000, Cape Town).

• FAMSA Conference on Growing Through Divorce: Before, During and After (30 April 1997, Cape Town)*.

MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL BODIES (PAST AND PRESENT) 

• International Society on Family Law.
• Commission on Folk Law and Legal Pluralism Board
  • Board member (1999-2015, renewed 2016 to date)

UNIVERSITY AND FACULTY ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATION

I have served on the following Committees of the University of Cape Town FACULTY AND SENATE:

University

• Panel of Twelve (Preliminary Disciplinary Investigations Committee)
• Student Funds for Visiting Speakers Committee
• Member of the University Academic Planning Task Team (to draw up guidelines for Academic Planning)
• Senate Academic Planning Committee (Senate member)
• Senate member of the Naming of Buildings and Works of Art Committees
• Library Committee
• Graduate Studies Board

Faculty 

• Law Faculty Board
• Admissions Committee
• Examinations Committee
• Academic Planning Committee(LLB)
• Library Committee
• Scholarship Committee
• The School for Advanced Legal Studies
• Higher Degrees Committee
• Numerous staff appointment committees