In 2019, Professor Elsabe Schoeman became the first female Dean in the 100-year history of the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Faculty of Law. This was three years after she’d returned to UP as a professor in the Department of Private Law and almost four decades after she’d graduated with her law degree (then BLC) from UP.

“I was excited to return to UP, to this beautiful campus where I have met so many wonderful people and made so many good friends,” says Prof Schoeman, who is a specialist in private international and comparative law. “It’s hard to think that almost 10 years have passed, and when people ask me what I’ll miss most as I retire, it is the people, definitely the people. Fortunately, I will remain affiliated with UP.”

Prof Schoeman’s journey started in the farming district of Elliot (now Khowa) in the Eastern Cape, where her family, the Greylings, were sheep farmers in the breath-taking southern Drakensberg.

“This area is still my favourite part of the world,” says Prof Schoeman, who has travelled widely and has experienced many of the world’s magnificent landscapes. “At the age of six, I went to boarding school as our farm was too far from town. I think that taught me a lot of independence. My mother told me that when I was growing up, I would always do things for myself. I am fiercely independent, yet at the same time, living in a farming community, you learn that everyone has to contribute to the community to keep it going and growing.”

From a young age, Prof Schoeman was already showing legal leanings – she’d type letters on her little typewriter to the roads department to lodge complaints about the poor state of the roads as a result of freight transport.

She completed high school in Bloemfontein, matriculating with top marks, which earned her a scholarship to UP; her family helped pay for accommodation.

“I completed my law degree at UP, but there was no funding available to pursue my LLB here in the 1980s,” Prof Schoeman says. “So I went to the University of South Africa (UNISA) as a research associate, where they funded my LLB and paid me a small salary of R500 a month, which was not bad at the time. The same applied to my LLD; I ended up staying at UNISA for 14 years.”

Prof Schoeman met her husband, Maarten, at UP in her first year, and they got married in her final year. Maarten obtained a law degree and LLB from UP, and became a lawyer and academic.

“I loved his intellect and we were great friends,” she says. “I’m more of an extrovert, while he was an introvert and the solid rock in my life, always a huge support for what I wanted to achieve and in helping to raise our family.

“We had wonderful adventures together with our daughter and son, including hiking and camping in New Zealand, and cycling along the large rivers in Germany when I was doing my postdoctoral research as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Cologne.”

Maarten died of brain cancer in 2017, less than a year after they’d returned to South Africa.

Prof Schoeman and her family lived in New Zealand for almost 15 years when she was at the University of Auckland, rising to Deputy Dean of the Law School and Deputy Director of the Cross-Faculty Europe Institute.

“We enjoyed our time in Auckland,” she recalls. “The quality of life is great there, relaxed and safe, and there’s a good work-life balance; whereas in South Africa, we tend to work really hard, which is why South Africans are generally popular overseas. Auckland was good for my career, as I gained a lot of experience in English common law, which added to my experience in the German civil law system, as well as my foundation in our hybrid South African legal system, which includes Roman-Dutch, English and customary law, and the Constitution.

“I’m very interested in comparative law, and I loved teaching it at UP and seeing how my postgraduate students immersed themselves in these comparative perspectives,” Prof Schoeman adds.

She has often been called upon for her opinion on different legal systems in court cases. Research-wise, she wanted to contribute to legal education and advance private international law in Africa.

“I specifically wanted to do research in my home country about South Africa- and Africa-specific cases – notably of victims of mining and other extractive industries in Africa. This includes the victims of asbestos mining and oil spills, whose cases are heard in the Global North because that is where so many of the parent companies are based.”

Three years later, when she became Dean, Prof Schoeman’s vision was based on the promise and potential she saw in people.

“I appointed many young academics, focusing on gender and racial diversity, as I recognised their brilliance, ability and confidence, and the energy of youth is inspiring. The goal was to create a strong balance between experienced and emerging academics, promoting intergenerationality in the faculty, where the different generations can learn from each other.”

It wasn’t an easy transformation, she adds.

“When I became Dean, the faculty lacked gender and racial diversity, and I believe strongly in diverse perspectives and the rich environment this creates. I also knew it was my responsibility to be a pathfinder for woman scholars to become professors and have the opportunity to be part of the University’s senior leadership.”

Prof Schoeman points out that in many households, it’s still up to women to look after the children and the home, which puts huge pressure on them while having to lecture and advance in their scholarly research.

“UP now has good programmes to advance emerging scholars, female and male, but we still need to create time for them to do their research as well as sufficient flexibility – for example, when children need to be fetched from school.”

Her approach is that there are always challenges in whatever you need to do, but that you have to get on with addressing them and adapt where necessary.

“As Dean, my goal was to create a human-centred faculty where people feel they belong and where we have relationships of trust and respect, because if you don’t trust and respect your colleagues, the battle is already lost,” Prof Schoeman says. “Of course, you cannot be friends with everyone, but you do need to hear everyone’s point of view and treat everyone with kindness and respect.”

During retirement, Prof Schoeman plans to focus on research and spending more time with her children, who live abroad. Her geologist daughter Carmia and her astronomer husband, Alex, live in Northern Ireland with her granddaughter. Her economist son, Beaumont, and his wife, Franzi, who’s a teacher, live in Germany with her other granddaughter.

“They’re very enlightened and environmentally conscious,” Prof Schoeman says. “My daughter is the activist in the family! We have heated debates, but we get on well and laugh a lot together. Both my children are also very good cooks – they take after their father – whereas my idea of cooking is summed up as ‘Woolies is wonderful’.”

Between spending time with her family and friends in many different countries, Prof Schoeman will continue to pursue research in South Africa, Germany and New Zealand.

“My current research focuses on creating a space for Global South victims of extractive industries – African cases should be heard on African soil, where the victims are, for localised justice. But to achieve this, we need a proper forum or tribunal, and that is what I am working on. These cases all turn on human rights issues in the end. Private and public international law need to work together on this in order to advance corporate responsibility. I am working on a project about global value chains with the Tilburg Law School in the Netherlands to address these issues. I’ve also contributed to a book that addresses this; we are aiming for publication at the end of this year.”

Prof Schoeman adds that she still has so much to do, which is why she rises at 4am every morning, something she learnt growing up on a farm, and which as a young scholar, gave her time to write her thesis for her LLD before her children woke up.

She routinely goes for a walk at 5am, and in her spare time, she reads.

“I’m a big fan of Isabel Allende; I find her novels inspiring as a woman, and I’m re-reading the Neapolitan Novels by the enigmatic Italian author Elena Ferrante. I also listen to all sorts of music. I grew up on Leonard Cohen. His music, like life, is often dark, but I am pragmatic about life. There are so many things you can say about life, but in short I would say that every tomorrow brings a new day. Today might not be so good, but there will always be a tomorrow.”

 

Messages from colleagues

 

Prof Charles Maimela

I started working with the Dean on 1 July 2016 in the Department of Private Law and we quickly formed a bond. In 2020, I joined her in the Dean’s office as the Deputy Dean to support her vision of transforming the faculty into an inclusive, stable, diverse space, with excellence at its centre. We pushed for an intergenerational mix and the Dean appointed younger women and men, myself included. As a leader she acknowledges talent, is very strategic and her leadership style is cool, calm, kind and human-centred. Even when the debates sometimes became fierce during the faculty transformation, she was not deterred and was always open to listening to staff members’ points of view.

As the first female Dean of the Faculty of Law in the history of the institution, she showed that transformation does not mean compromise or lowered standards, but rather higher standards, which the faculty has achieved.

As much as we wish her well on her retirement, the mood in the faculty is sombre, but with a glimmer of hope, as she has laid the foundation for the faculty to grow from strength to strength. She has made a huge contribution to the academic project and the lives of our staff and students, irrespective of where they come from and the languages they speak.

I am greatly indebted to have worked with the Dean; I will always hold her dear to my heart and I know our academic interaction and friendship will continue.

 

Prof Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu

As I reflect on our time together, I am grateful for the opportunity to have collaborated with Elsabe. Her guidance, integrity and character have had a profound impact on me, both at work and personally. Her leadership has been inspiring – not just because she's incredibly skilled and clear in her vision, but also because she leads with kindness and understanding. Elsabe has an amazing knack for bringing people together, listening deeply and making space for different voices and perspectives. Working with her has taught me so much as a leader.

Her work ethic is truly impressive. She always goes the extra mile, doing it gracefully and humbly, and sets an excellent example for everyone around her. Even when things get tough, her calm and thoughtful approach keeps us steady, and her commitment to excellence never falters.

It’s been a privilege to share this journey with you. Thank you, Elsabe, for your wisdom, kindness, constant support and especially for being my friend. I will miss you so much at UP. I look forward to continuing our friendship.

 

Prof Rian Cloete

Prof Elsabe Schoeman’s tenure as Dean of the Law Faculty has been one of exceptional leadership, dedication and a commitment to both academic excellence and the well-being of students and colleagues. As Dean, she was a steady hand, guiding the faculty through COVID-19 while ensuring that the core values of integrity and empathy remained at the forefront.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Prof Schoeman is known for her genuine warmth and approachability. She is someone who listens deeply and engages thoughtfully with those around her, making a lasting impact on the lives of many. Her understanding of the demands of academia, paired with her sense of humour and humility, has made her both respected and beloved by all who have had the privilege of working with her.

And, of course, no one could forget that Prof Schoeman is a proud member of The 4am Club, a testament to her dedication and commitment to her work. Unlike those who rise “late”, as members of the The 5am Club, Elsabe’s most productive hours are when the faculty is asleep. The number of emails in your inbox when you wake up serve as evidence.

Prof Schoeman’s legacy as Dean will live on not just through her accomplishments but through the many lives she has touched in meaningful ways. She will be remembered long after her retirement.

Prof Steven Cornelius:

As Head of the Department of Private Law at the time, I was proud that Prof Schoeman from Private Law was the first woman to become Dean of the Faculty of Law at UP.

She took over the helm of the faculty in difficult times. In the aftermath of the student #FeesMustFall protests, the faculty faced deep divisions, which came to a head with the curriculum transformation project. In addition, Prof Schoeman had to lead the faculty through the upheavals of the COVID-19 national lockdown and the eventual return to campus.

Through her inspirational leadership, Prof Schoeman stabilised and led the transformation of the faculty. Her transformation vision was always balanced, but some colleagues failed to see this at the time and had a different view. She brought perspective to the debate about what transformation means in the faculty profile and curriculum, very ably assisted by Deputy Dean Prof Maimela.

Prof Schoeman showed colleagues that most of the differences were actually quite superficial, and that there was significantly more common ground than difference. She also welcomed divergent opinions and always said that it was the diversity of views that gave the faculty its strength.

Her legacy is a faculty that is significantly more diverse in its staff and student profiles, as well as pedagogical approaches to law. Students will benefit from this for many years to come, and the faculty is so much stronger and richer as a result.