Dr. Tlale is a legal researcher in the property law area, mainly the customary land tenure system. These areas are mainly governed under the customary law which is usually insecure.

Therein, land is deemed insecure because there is no certainty that one’s rights to land will be recognized by others and protected in cases of specific challenges. Thus, her research seeks to examine ways in which this challenge can be overcome and traditional leadership matters-entrusted with resolving land disputes in a patriarchal manner, are handled to ensure that women’s land/property rights are legally governed since they are guised under the already insecure land rights of men living.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Bachelor of Laws, National University of Lesotho (2013); Master of Estate Laws, North-West University (2014); Doctor of Laws, North-West University (2018); Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Stellenbosch University (2018–2020); Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of the Free State, (2021-2022); Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Human Rights, University of the Free State (2023); Law Researcher, Supreme Court of Appeal (2023).

External examiner

• LL.M Thesis “Problems regarding the delay in the acquisition of powerline servitude by Eskom” University of South Africa (2023).
• LL.M Thesis “Protecting the Land Tenure Security of Rural Communities in Zimbabwe” University of Witwatersrand (2023).
• LL.M Thesis ‘“Public interest’ and ‘public purpose’ as a requirement for valid expropriation of land in South Africa” University of South Africa (2022).
• LL.M Thesis “Lesotho labour laws and social media misconduct: the new era in Lesotho in the face of growing social media influence on employment” National University of Lesotho (2022).
• LL.D Thesis “Widows, Land, Property and Inheritance Rights: An Analysis of Affirmative Action Proposals in Botswana’s 2015 Land Policy, with a Legal Comparative Dimension” Stellenbosch University (2020).
• LL.M Thesis Safeguarding Rights of Mining Communities in South Africa; An Analysis of the Legal Mechanisms in force with particular focus on Community Development Agreements University of Cape Town (2020).
• LL.D Thesis “Ownership of South African Street Art and the Protection of Cultural Heritage Resources” University of South Africa, September (2019)
• LL.D Thesis “The Realisation of Access to Sufficient Food in South Africa” North-West University, September (2019).

Supervisor:

• LL.M Thesis “The exploitation and sexual abuse of girls through the cultural practice of ukuthwala/chobeliso: a human rights analysis of child marriages in South Africa and Lesotho” (2023).

Publications:

• Tlale MT “Conflicting Levels of Engagement under the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act and the Minerals and Petroleum Development Act: A Closer Look at the Xolobeni Community Dispute” 2020(23) Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal.
• Tlale MT “South African rural women’s land rights and the covid-19 pandemic: a silver lining or another sailed ship?” in ZT Boggenpoel, E van der Sijde, MT Tlale & S Mahomedy (eds) Property responses to a global pandemic (Juta 2021) 281- 297.
• Tlale MT “The South African customary land tenure (in)security: is there hope under the communal land tenure bill?” 2022 (85) Tydskrif vir Hedengdaagse Romeins- Hollandnse Reg THRHR (Journal of Contemporary Roman-Dutch Law).
• Mubangizi JC & Tlale MT “How gender-based cultural practices violate women’s property rights and inhibit property ownership: a South African perspective” 96 (2023) 102678 Women’s Studies International Forum.
• Tlale MT “Land issues in South Africa: can land administration save the sinking ship of land reform?” 2022 (5) 2- International Journal of Law and Society.
• “Victory for informal land rights holders: the importance of meaningful consultation and consent” (accepted for publication Social Sciences & Humanities Open).
• Tlale MT, “The constitutional promise of land reform: A legislative approach to selected customary land tenure issues” (Accepted for publication – November 2023)
• Opinion pieces:
• Tlale MT “South African Rural women marginalised in land matters” Daily News (17 August 2018).
• Tlale MT “#WomenofSU: Dr Mpho Tlale” available at https://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=6661 (22 August 2019).
• S Mahomedy ZT Boggenpoel, E van der Sijde, & MT Tlale “The Strandfontein relocation camp highlights how the rights of the homeless are being violated” available at https://ww.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-07-05-the-strandfontein-relocation-camp-highlights-how-the-rights-of-the-homeless-are-being-violated/#gsc.tab=0 DailyMaverick (5 July 2020).
• Tlale MT “Xolobeni: Protecting vulnerable people’s land against mineral rights grabs” available at https://ww.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2020-08-28-xolobeni-protecting-vulnerable-peoples-land-against-mineral-rights-grabs/ DailyMaverick (28 August 2020).

Edited Book:

• Boggenpoel ZT, E van der Sijde, MT Tlale & S Mahomedy (eds) Property and Pandemics- Property Law responses to COVID-19 (Juta 2021).