Rochelle Maphoto
Mr Rochelle Maphoto is an admitted Legal Practitioner of the High Court of South Africa and an accredited Mediator affiliated to one of the renowned mediation organisations, ADR Network South Africa. He is currently employed as a Land Reform Specialist within the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (“DLRRD”). He has previously served as a Legal Advisor to the Special Master of Labour Tenants and Agent of the Land Claims Court, Professor Richard Levin. He is an avid reader and a scholarly activist. He has published articles on domestic and international geopolitical issues including on issues pertaining to international trade and the World Trade Organisation (“WTO”). His most recent work has been on the crucial necessity for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (“AfCFTA”) which is aimed at accelerating intra-Africa trade to develop a resilient dispute resolution system to avoid the paralysis currently experienced by the WTO appellate body.
He has over the years, both as a student and a professional, developed solid interest in public interest justice and economic development for marginalised groups. His passion for development and justice is seen through his work as the founder of Transition Initiatives South Africa NPC, a non-profit, inclusive, community-based, elementary grassroots level advisory organisation advocating for a Just Energy Transition (“JET”), Socio-economic Rights on Land Justice (“SRLJ”) and Skills Development (“SD”) for communities affected by extractive industries and mineral exploration in South Africa. Before joining National Government, he served his articles of Clerkship at Lingernfelder and Baloyi Attorneys in Pretoria.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law (BA Law) (UP), Bachelor of Laws (LLB) (Unisa), and a Master’s Degree in Development Policy and Practice (MDPP) from the Nelson Mandela School of Governance (UCT). He has successfully completed several accredited and non-accredited short course programs, including in Mediation on Personal Injury, Medical Negligence and Road Accidents, Advanced Management Development Program, Legislative Drafting, Land Tenure Law, Practical Legal Training (“PLT”) and Political Economy of Land Governance in Africa, hosted by the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies ("PLAAS"), University of the Western Cape ("UWC") in partnership with the African Land Policy Centre ("ALPC").
He was one of 88 land professionals and policy makers handpicked from 21 African countries for the Political Economy of Land Governance in Africa programme for 2022. He has also enrolled for and completed Fundamental Grant Writing and Understanding Renewable Energy short courses amongst others, organised by Young African Leaders Initiative (“YALI”). He has co-authored and delivered a paper together with Prof RM Levin and Dr M. Ngubane titled: “The Political Economy of Land Reform Law in South Africa: The Case of Labour Tenants” at an International Conference of the International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy” (IIPPE) held at the Università di Bologna - “Distretto Navile” Campus, Italy. – 2023.His main areas of interests in terms of research and expertise are on:
• Land Reform and Governance
• Soft advocacy and small-scale people centred development initiatives.
• Economic Policy, Policy Formulation and Analysis.
• International Trade, Regional Integration (AfCFTA).
• Inclusive Economic Development and Trade issues.
His Master’s research project, which was titled, “Landlessness in South Africa - Policy, Law, or State: Who or what failed labour tenants?” aimed to show that there is correlation between and among dominant structural macro-economic factors, local and international interests, imbedded in governance, policy development and law making, acting in concert to undermine genuine land reform efforts in South Africa and that these dominant structural issues point to deeply embedded limitations in policy, law, as well as state complicity.
