GRADUATE PROFILE | Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC

A distinguished alumnus of Walter Sisulu University, Adv. Ngcukaitobi SC is a highly respected legal scholar and practitioner, renowned for his expertise in constitutional and public law. On December 2020 Ngcukaitobi was elected the Chairperson of WSU council, becoming the youngest person to ascend to the top position in the history of the university, at the age of 44. A true champion of students rights and an advocate for quality education, Ngcukaitobi was elected the President of the student representative council (SRC) of University of Transkei, now WSU, in 1997. He graduated with an LLB degree from the same university in 1999. He also holds the degrees of BProc (Unitra), LLM (Rhodes) and LLM (London School of Economics).

In March 2025, WSU Senate approved the appointment of Ngcukaitobi as an Honorary Professor of Law in the Faculty of Law, Humanity and Social Sciences.

His legal expertise extends across competition law, labour law, and land law. Additionally, he has served as an acting judge in the Labour Court, Land Claims Court, and High Court of South Africa.

Ngcukaitobi leads the legal team appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to challenge Israel at the International Criminal Court of Justice for the genocide in Gaza. He also represents the Cradock Four families in the inquest into the 1985 murders of anti-apartheid activists Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sicelo Mhlauli and Sparrow Mkhonto in Cradock. Beyond his legal practice, Adv. Ngcukaitobi SC is an accomplished author, having written extensively on land reform and constitutionalism. His notable works include The Land Is Ours: South Africa's First Black Lawyers and the Birth of Constitutionalism (2018) and Land Matters: South Africa's Failed Reforms and the Road Ahead (2021).

 MALIBONGWE DAYIMANI