Mr Stanley Malematja – Attorney
Stanley is an adroit child and human rights lawyer with over five years’ experience post-admission as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa. He also holds a Right of Appearance Certificate in the High Court. He has been involved in ground-breaking strategic impact litigation cases which resulted in Constitutional Court judgments and continues to contribute to the Centre for Child Law’s objectives in promoting and protecting children’s rights through strategic litigation, advocacy, and education.
He is a published author and lecturer at the Department of Private Law, University of Pretoria and previously taught at the University of Witwatersrand and Wits Plus, respectively. He holds an LLB degree from the University of Johannesburg, an LLM degree from the University of Pretoria (with a distinction for his mini dissertation), and a PGDip in Human Rights Advocacy and Litigation from the University of Witwatersrand. His areas of interest include child justice, education law, socio-economic rights, disability rights, constitutional law and family law.
Stanley served his articles of clerkship at the Centre for Child Law and subsequently joined the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), where he served as a leading attorney for the Right2Protest Project. During his tenure at the CALS, he was the only attorney in South Africa, primarily focusing on protest-related matters and providing legal advice, representation, and support across the country. He provided services to activists, human rights defenders, social justice movement organisations, law clinics and firms, trade unions, and the society at large. He inter alia compiled reports on the state of protest in the country, engaged with the media, responded to bail applications on behalf of protesters nationwide, and has a 100% success rate in bail applications.
In 2023, he was appointed as an advisory member of the United Nations on Policing of Assemblies Involving Children. He was further appointed as a legal advisor for a project on children with harmful sexual behaviours. His accolades include two floating national trophies as an overall winner of the Annual Child Law Moot Court Competition and an award for best lecturer in the first year. He was also nominated in the Mail & Guardian Young 200 Most Exceptional South Africans. He was also featured as an in-house legal advisor in a DSTV reality show Abazali on access and contact with a minor child.
Recent Notable Cases
Centre for Child Law v Schutte and Others CCT157/22.
Centre for Child Law and Others v South African Council for Educators and Others (1289/2022) [2024] ZASCA 45.
VJV and Another v Minister of Social Development and Another (CCT 94/22) [2023] ZACC 21.
Centre for Child Law v Director for Public Prosecutions , Johannesburg and Others CCT210/21
Right to Know Campaign and Others v City Manager of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and Another (49197/2021) [2022] ZAGPJHC 388.
Publications
S Malematja, Who guards the guardians? A poem about the role of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate in denying the gateway right to protest and to access justice ESR Review 01 Vol 21 (2020).
Stanley Malematja, Court assigns rights of contact and care to a gamete donor https://www.derebus.org.za/court-assigns-rights-of-contact-and-care-to-a-gamete-donor/
Stanley Malematja, A successful contempt of court application protects the paramountcy of the best interests of the child https://www.derebus.org.za/a-successful-contempt-of-court-application-protects-the-paramountcy-of-the-best-interests-of-the-child/
Stanley Malematja, It is unconstitutional to impose a levy on the constitutional right to protest https://www.derebus.org.za/it-is-unconstitutional-to-impose-a-levy-on-the-constitutional-right-to-protest/
Book contributions
Courtenay M & Malematja S “The Child Justice Act: practice and procedure” in Bezuidenhout C Child and youth misbehaviour in South Africa, A holistic approach (Van Schaik, 2024).
Malematja S & Udochu E “Use of Force during COVID-19 Pandemic: A South African Perspective” in Masake PH & Iroanya RO Social and Ethical Issues of Global Pandemics: A Southern African Perspective (Rowan & Littlefield, 2023).
Udochu E & Malematja S “The Politics of Quarantine and Nigeria’s National Security: A Focus on Pandemics” in Masake PH & Iroanya RO African Perspectives on Global Pandemics and the Challenges of Peace and Security (Rowan & Littlefield, 2023).
Media contributions and appearances
SA Unrest | Understanding human rights during police searches: Stanley Malematja https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaSzWgbnNiU&t=13s
Stanley Malematja speaks about the right to protest in a manner that is peaceful and unarmed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmn-kEBwOIU
Right to protest fundamental in South Africa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61fg9nu-qcM
ConCourt upholds ruling that children cannot be criminally charged for cannabis usage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKhYSrp33XI&t=135s
Reaction | Stanley Malemetja reacts to ConCourt ruling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qa7U4PO3zQ&t=254s
Stanley Malematja, speaks about the right to protest under lockdown regulations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NUEYGY3e8E&t=559s
Stanley Malematja, attorney at Right2Know, speaks about the right to protest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju2dAlb71Oc&t=45s
Calls for the narrative of protests to shift from that of criminality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iwAnJMPBnM&t=69s
A 6-year-old boy died at an initiation school in Limpopo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7_I1YFjpVs&t=105s
Section of Drug Trafficking Act found inconsistent with Constitution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSw22rrUOx4
Political gatherings under the current state of national disaster regulations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTbV0aJJCm4&t=148s
Bill to end child marriages https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDIubWgCVgs
The legal ramification of defying the State Capture commission’s regulations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y14G4lIK2uc&t=5s
