In March 2007, we were joined by Mr. Jody Kollapen, Chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), a constitutional body set up by Chapter Nine of South Africa's Constitution to protect and promote human rights. The SAHRC is one of a number of independent, national institutions created to transform the country from its unjust past and to deliver the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution to all in South Africa.

Mr. Kollapen was appointed Chairperson of the SAHRC by President Mandela on the recommendation of Parliament and reappointed for a second term by President Mbeki.

Mr. Kollapen's father was a waiter and his mother was a seamstress. Both played a central role in his development as a person and as a lawyer. He has a B.Proc degree and LLB degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

He practiced law in Pretoria, South Africa from 1981 to 1992, focusing on public interest law. During this period he represented a number of persons prosecuted in terms of apartheid laws. Some of the matters that he was involved in as a human rights lawyer included the Delmas Treason Trial, the Biko doctors case and the Sharpeville six. Each of these cases sought to positively impact on the enforcement of human rights in a hostile environment. He joined Lawyers for Human Rights, a leading human rights NGO, in 1992 and served as its National Director from 1994 until 1995.

Mr. Kollapen was requested by President Mandela to be part of a panel entrusted with the task of interviewing and making recommendations on persons to be appointed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

His areas of interest include human rights within the administration of justice, equality and the advancement of socio-economic rights. He is presently chairperson of the Equality Review Committee. He currently serves on the boards of various national and international human rights bodies, including the Legal Resources Centre and the Human Rights Foundations. He has spoken and participated in numerous workshops and conferences on human rights issues both nationally and internationally and written extensively on human rights issues and on constitutionalism.