Mbeki’s former advisor Gumbi appointed to UN secretary-general’s office

Advocate Mojanku Gumbi has been appointed special adviser on racism by the United Nations (UN) secretary-general António Guterres.

Currently chancellor of the University of Venda (Univen), Gumbi will take up the role of Special Adviser for Addressing Racism in the Workplace in Guterres’ office.

Gumbi was a long-time special advisor to ex-president Thabo Mbeki during his tenure in office.

Gumbi to oversee the anti-racism action plan

The UN said an anti-racism team has been set up in Guterres‘ office to support Gumbi.

Gumbi will provide strategic advice to Guterres on addressing racism and racial discrimination.

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She will also oversee the implementation of a long-term strategic action plan adopted in 2022 to address racism in the workplace.

“Following the adoption of the plan, every secretariat entity was asked to develop and implement its own action plan.

“An Implementation Steering Group under the leadership and stewardship of the Special Adviser will monitor and guide corporate-level actions to implement the strategic action plan. An anti-racism Team has been established to support the Special Adviser,” read the UN’s statement.

A human rights lawyer

Apart from her many roles in the country, Gumbi was involved in peacemaking initiatives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Comoros, Sudan, Lesotho, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Iran and the Middle East.  

Prior to serving in the presidency, Gumbi was an attorney from 1984 and became an advocate in 1993.

A human rights lawyer, she became Univen’s first woman chancellor in 2020. She has 30 years of experience in private practice, public policy development and African conflict resolution.

The respected advocate is among a panel of experts appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa that examined all aspects of South Africa’s security response, following the violent unrest in 2021.

She also serves and has served on the boards of many companies, trusts and philanthropic foundations, including the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, the Open Society Foundation, the Southern African Political and Economic Trust, the Black Lawyers Association, and the Thabo Mbeki Foundation. 

She holds law degrees from the University of Limpopo and Witwatersrand University.

Gumbi also holds a certificate in trial advocacy from the University of Texas in Austin, USA.

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