Thandeka is an international human rights lawyer, social justice advocate, and Afro-feminist with expertise in nationality rights and statelessness, refugee and migrant rights, and women’s rights and gender justice. As the Head of the Statelessness Unit at Lawyers for Human Rights (South Africa), she leads strategic litigation, advocacy, research, and capacity-building efforts to address statelessness and promote nationality rights in South Africa and the broader SADC region. She has litigated seminal cases in South African courts, shaping jurisprudence on various human rights issues.

Thandeka also manages the Southern African Nationality Network  (SANN) and serves as editor of the “Statelessness in Southern Africa” newsletter. In her global advocacy efforts, she is the Advocacy Lead in the Global Movement Against Statelessness (GMAS).

Thandeka holds a Bachelor of Social Science in Economics (BSS) and an Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Rhodes University, as well as an MSc in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University.