Lindiwe Mokate is currently serving as a Commissioner at the SAHRC and is eligible for reappointment. She is one of three Commissioners that is seeking reappointment. She is nominated by Professor Anne Skelton of the Child Law Center.

 Her employment in Government began in 1994 as a Programme Officer in the Presidency specifically dealing with Children's Rights and this is the area she has created a niche specialty.

 

She was appointed SAHRC in 2009 despite having worked as the CEO of the SAHRC before leaving that organisation under a cloud in 2005. The SAHRC was beset with difficulties during her tenure and there was an exodus of staff and reports of victimisation by senior management. In July of 2005, unhappy staffers wrote an open letter to National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete saying that at least 15 staff members had resigned in the first six months of the year and asking for her urgent intervention to save the commission from a “crisis”.

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Mokate hit the headlines in 2005 after former chief financial officer Colin Braude accused her of wasteful expenditure and then lost his job soon after. An external audit, however, cleared the commission of allegations that Braude was victimised.

An independent report into staff relations at the SAHRC was also commissioned by Kollapen after this incident. It shed light on further allegations of intimidation and mismanagement at the commission. Mokate refused to cooperate with the investigation by attorney Thandi Orleyn. Despite all of these factors, she was appointed a Commissioner in 2009 and the current malaise may be testament to the appointment of persons that lack leadership and capacity.

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