Position, academic & professional qualifications

Ntombizozuko ‘Zozo’ Dyani-Mhango is a Professor and Head of the Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, at the University of Pretoria.

She holds LLB and LLM degrees from the University of the Western Cape, and Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) (LLD per SAQA) degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. Her doctoral thesis is titled: ‘Sexual Violence During Armed Conflict in Africa and the African Union’s Right to Humanitarian Intervention: Implications, Challenges and Solutions’.

Academic & professional experience

Prof Dyani-Mhango joined the Department of Jurisprudence as a full professor from July 2020 until July 2021 when she joined the Department of Public Law as full professor and Head of Department on 1 August 2021. Before then, she held academic positions from associate lecturer up to associate professor in the School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand teaching and supervising both undergraduate and graduate students on public international law, international criminal law, and constitutional law for 16 years.

Before joining the University of the Witwatersrand, Prof Dyani-Mhango clerked at the Constitutional Court for Justice S Sandile Ngcobo, who later became the Chief Justice of South Africa. She was also an intern (legal research) in the Chambers Section of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania.

She is a sole contributing guest editor of the book formatted Special Issue of the Southern African Public Law Journal 2017 (vol 32, issues 1 & 2) titled Twenty-First Century Constitutional Jurisprudence of South Africa: The Contribution of Former Chief Justice S Sandile Ngcobo and a co-editor of the book Emma C Lubaale & Ntombizozuko Dyani-Mhango (eds) National Accountability for International Crimes in Africa (Palgrave MacMillan, 2022).

Focus areas

Prof Dyani-Mhango’s areas of specialisation fall under International Law, with a focus on African Union Law and its right to intervene, its relationship with the International Criminal Court, as well as its member states obligations in international criminal justice. She also focuses on South Africa’s international and constitutional obligations in this regard, as well as public power (separation of powers). She has published widely and attended both local and international conferences presenting in these areas.

Selected publications

• (with E Lubaale) ‘Introduction: Relevance of Debates on National Accountability for International Crimes in Africa’ in Emma C Lubaale & Ntombizozuko Dyani-Mhango (eds) National Accountability for International Crimes in Africa (Palgrave MacMillan, 2022) 1-28
• ‘South Africa’s Accountability for International Crimes: Revisiting the (Non) Prosecution of Apartheid as a Crime against Humanity’ in Charlene Emma Lubaale & Ntombizozuko Dyani-Mhango (eds) National Accountability for International Crimes in Africa (Palgrave MacMillan, 2022) 471-526
• (with E Lubaale) ‘Conclusion: Where to, Now?’ in Emma C Lubaale & Ntombizozuko Dyani-Mhango (eds) National Accountability for International Crimes in Africa (Palgrave MacMillan, 2022) 639-646
• ‘South Africa’s Contribution to the International Criminal Justice’ in Ndulo & Emeziem (eds) The Routledge Handbook on African Law (Routledge, 2021) 491-510
• ‘Revisiting Personal Immunities for Incumbent Foreign Heads of State in South Africa in Light of the Grace Mugabe Decision’ (2021) 21 African Human Rights Law Journal 931-952
• ‘Does the board of a pension fund in South Africa perform a public function or exercise public power when determining death claims under section 37C of the Pension Funds Act?’ (2021) 54 De Jure 549-564
• ‘Reflections on the Prosecutorial Independence and Impartiality in South Africa: Recent Courts’ Jurisprudence’ (2020) 35: 2 SA Public Law 1-25
• (with M Mhango) ‘The Powers of the South African Public Protector: A Note on Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly’ (2021) 13: 1 African Journal of Legal Studies 23-42
• ‘Reflecting on South Africa’s Attempt to Withdraw from the Rome Statute in Favour of Immunities for Sitting Heads of State: An Analysis of the International Crimes Bill, 2017’ (2020) 28 (2) African Journal of International & Comparative Law 319-351
• ‘A Call for The Transformation of the South African Insurance Industry: An Analysis of the Insurance Bill 2016’ 40: 3 Statute Law Review 310-324
• (with S Lungu) ‘Ensuring that State Parties to the Rome Statute Co-operate with ICC Requests to Arrest and Surrender Suspects: Reflecting on the Role of the Security Council through the Lens of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)’ (2018) African Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 119-145
• ‘South Africa’s (Unconstitutional) Withdrawal from the Rome Statute: A Note on Democratic Alliance v Minister of International Relations and Cooperation’ 34: 2 South African Journal on Human Rights 268-289
• ‘The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber’s Decision on South Africa’s Failure to Arrest and Surrender South Africa: South Africa Escapes ‘Sanctions’’ 2017 African Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 37-77
• ‘Reflecting on retired Chief Justice Ngcobo’s approach to gender equality: Revisiting S v Jordan and Volks v Robinson cases’ (2017) 31: 1& 2 SA Public Law 1-33
• (with M Mhango) ‘Deputy Chief Justice Moseneke and Separation of Powers in South Africa’ (2017) Acta Juridica 75-98
• ‘South Africa’s Dilemma: Immunity Laws, International Obligations and the Visit by Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir’ 26 (3) Washington International Law Journal 535-571
• ‘The Consent of the First Wife in a Polygynous Marriage as a Requirement for the Validity of her Husband’s Subsequent Marriage under South Africa’s Recognition of Customary Marriages Act: Mayelane v Ngwenyama’ 60(1) Journal of African Law 156-169
• ‘The Jus Cogens nature of the prohibition of sexual violence against women in armed conflicts and state responsibility’ 27(1) Stellenbosch Law Review 112-135
• ‘The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision on Malawi regarding the failure to arrest and surrender President Al Bashir of Sudan: An opportunity missed’ 28 (1) SA Public Law 106-120
• ‘Reflections on the African Union’s Right to Intervene’ 38(1) Brooklyn Journal of International Law 1-48
• ‘Is the International Criminal Court Targeting Africa? Reflections on the Enforcement of International Criminal Law in Africa’ in Vincent O Nmehielle (Eleven International Publishing ed, 2012) Africa and the Future of International Criminal Justice 185-220

NRF Rating

Prof Dyani-Mhango is rated as an established researcher (C3).

Academic and professional memberships/fellowships/journal editing

Prof Dyani-Mhango is a member of the Law and Society Association, the African Society of International Law, and the inaugural fellow of the African Scientific Research Council.

She currently serves as the Managing Editor of the Journal of the South African Chapter – International Association of Women Judges, a member of the Editorial Committee of the Comparative & International Law Journal of Southern Africa and a member of the Editorial Board of the Southern African Public Law.

She was a Visiting Scholar, Global Legal Studies Center, Law School, University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2019. In 2012, she was a jury member of the prestigious Jean Pictet Moot Competition in International Humanitarian Law, Drakensberg Mountains.

Awards & Bursaries

In 2011, Prof Dyani-Mhango was awarded the Carnegie Sandwich Program Funding to complete doctoral research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.

In 2006/2007, she was awarded the Compton Peace Fellowship Program – a grant given to doctoral candidates whose research focuses on conflict resolution and security issues in Africa

In 2001, she was awarded the Attorneys Fidelity Fund Bursary to pay for LL.M Tuition at the University of the Western Cape.

Contact details

Tel:  +27 (0)12 420 5364

Email:  [email protected]