TRAILBLAZER BY KOKETSO MAMABOLO
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services “If you had said to my mother and father, farm workers, in a Bantustan in the Eastern Transvaal as it was called then, that in just over two decades, one of their children would be serving a democratic government as a minister, they would have probably not believed that,” said Honourable Ronald Lamola in his virtual address commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Constitution.
The DCS aims to ensure that conditions of detention are safe and secure The young minister has left a fiery trail which is only just beginning. An important part of leadership is knowing when to lean on young people to add a fresh perspective to the table of experience, which is what President Cyril Ramaphosa did when he appointed Hon. Ronald Ozzy
Lamola as the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services in May of 2019. Born in Bushbuckridge, the 38 yearold lawyer has settled into the role like a seasoned professional. LEGAL BACKGROUND One could say Minister Ronald Lamola was groomed to lead the Justice and Correctional Services Ministry. After graduating from Mchaka High School at the start of the new millennium, Hon. Lamola pursued legal studies, obtaining his LLB from the University of Venda in 2005. The Minister did not rest on his laurels, furthering his studies through UNISA and at the University of Pretoria with post-graduate certificates in areas such as banking law and telecommunications policy, regulation and management. Hon. Lamola has completed not one, but two Masters degrees. The first was in corporate law, completed over
28 | Public Sector Leaders | February 2022
two years at the University of Pretoria. He completed the second one in just a single year, in extractive law, also from the University of Pretoria. Hon. Lamola was admitted as an attorney at the High Court of South Africa in 2007. Honourable Lamola’s career began as a professional assistant at TMN Kgomo and Associates, straight out of University. At TMN Kgomo and Associates he provided the Govan Mbeki Municipality with legal advice, practising civil litigation, labour law, commercial litigation and drafting contracts. Hon. Lamola’s work with the municipality continued when was appointed the Transversal Unit Manager from March to June of 2009. He moved onto Mpumalanga’s Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation where he spent two years as a Director in the office of the MEC. Minister Lamola’s service to the
