Welcome!
Welcome to the School of Law at the University of Venda.
The School of Law, based at our Thohoyandou campus, forms part of the Faculty of Management, Commerce and Law. Guided by the University’s Strategic Plan 2026–2030 and its broader Vision 2040 — “A Beacon of Hope for Societal Change”, we are committed to producing well-rounded law and criminal justice graduates. Our work is anchored in student-centredness, engaged scholarship and entrepreneurship, sound governance, and the partnerships and internationalisation that mark a university striving for relevance, excellence and impact.
I warmly welcome our first-year and returning students to the School of Law in 2026, and I wish each of you well in your studies at UNIVEN. I extend an equally warm welcome to our dedicated academic and support staff, who remain the anchors of our academic enterprise. We take great pride in our Law and Criminal Justice programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, offered through the Departments of Criminal Justice, Mercantile and Private Law, and Public Law. Our Law Clinic remains central to the School’s mission: it provides students with practical legal training while delivering much needed legal services to indigent members of our surrounding community.
In keeping with the University’s vision, the School aspires to stand at the forefront of transformative legal education, a centre for legal teaching, training and research that advances rural and regional development across Southern Africa and produces graduates who are locally relevant and globally competitive.
Prof L. Ndlovu (LLD)
Director, School of Law
Vision
To be at the forefront of transformative tertiary education in law and criminal justice that promotes rural and regional development in Southern Africa.
Mission
Inspired by transformative constitutionalism, the School of Law pursues excellence in teaching, learning, research and community engagement and produces graduates with locally relevant and globally competitive knowledge, skills and applied competencies in law and criminal justice.
Centres and Services
Law ClinicIsmail Mahomed Centre for Human and Peoples’ RightsSatellite Office of the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (CGSO)
School Office Staff
Office of the Director
Prof Lonias Ndlovu
Director, School of Law LLB; LLM; LLD; PGDip Higher Education
lonias.ndlovu@univen.ac.za
015 962 8311 / 8512 F017, School of Law Building
View biography
Lonias is a professor and Director of the School of Law at the University of Venda, which he joined in August 2016. He served as the dean of the School of Law at the University of Venda from 2019 to 2021. He holds the degrees of Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws (Fort Hare) and Doctor of Laws (Unisa). He also has a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education (with distinction) from UKZN.
Before joining the University of Venda, he worked at Fort Hare, Zululand, and North West universities. At the University of Zululand, he held managerial positions, including Head of the Law Division and Vice Dean. Lonias is an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa and provides advisory services in intellectual property, contract, and commercial law matters.
His areas of teaching and research interest include intellectual property law generally, intellectual property and public health, international trade law, labour law, and commercial and corporate law. He has consulted for SADC, COMESA, Third World Network, Natural Justice, ARIPO and WIPO, where he teaches on the prestigious WIPO/Harvard University PatentX Programme on Patent Law and Global Public Health. Relatedly, he is a WIPO-appointed expert on the Master's in Intellectual Property at Africa University, Mutare, Zimbabwe.
Lonias is a member of the American Society of International Law, the Asian Society of International Law, the African International Economic Law Network, the Society of International Economic Law, and the South African Association of Intellectual Property Law and Information Technology Law.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sFXNlhYAAAAJ&hl=en&inst=1729420811666678083
Documents and Useful Links
