Abongile Sipondo

Abongile Sipondo "is a Lawyer by profession trained in South Africa and the United States of America. He is currently a Researcher and Advocacy Manager at the Democratic Governance and Rights Unit (DGRU), Public Law department at the University of Cape Town. He holds an LLB degree from the University of the Western Cape, an LLM in International Law and Human Rights from Columbia University in New York, USA and LLM in Commercial Law from the University of Cape Town. He further holds a certificate international Human Rights Law from the Utrecht University in the Netherlands. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Cape Town.

"Prior to Joining the GDRU, he was a Director of the Human Rights and Governance Programme at the Soros Open Society Foundation in South Africa. He has spent a number of years lecturing law at the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of the Western Cape, respectively.

"He has travelled extensively and has spoken in a number of academic conferences both in South Africa and internationally. He has commentated on legal issues in both the electronic and print media.

"Work experience:

• Director: Human Rights and Governance, Open Society Foundation for South Africa (Non-Profit Organization Management industry), (July 2008 — August 2009 (1 year 2 months)