Adv Pansy Tlakula

Adv. Tlakula studied a Bachelor of Law (B.Proc) at the University of the North (now known as the University of Limpopo), Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) before completing her Masters in Law (LL.M) at Harvard University. She also holds a Doctorate in Legal Studies (Honoris Causa) from the Vaal University of Technology.

She has held several influential positions. Advocate Tlakula was a member of the South African Human Rights Commission from 1995 until 2002. She was appointed as the Chief Electoral Officer of the Electoral Commission of South Africa in 2002 until 2011.

In 2011 she was appointed as the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of South Africa until 2014. She was appointed in 2005 as a member of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR). She served the ACHPR for 12 years, until November 2017.

She held the mandate of Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information and between 2015 and 2017, she served as Chairperson of the ACHRP. She is currently a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and she was recently appointed as a member of the SADC Electoral Advisory Committee.