Biography: Firoz Cachalia
- By Wits University
Firoz Cachalia is currently a Professor in the Wits School of Law. An admitted attorney, he is also completing his LLM at Wits, adding to his extensive list of impressive qualifications. No stranger to Wits – he was once a vibrant student activist at Wits, Cachalia holds a BA degree, a BA (Hons) degree, an LLB and a Higher Diploma in Company Law from Wits University. A talented individual, Cachalia also received a first class pass for his LLM qualification from the University of Michigan in 1996.
Prior to 1994, Cachalia made an active contribution to the opposition movement to apartheid, to the transition to democracy and subsequently to the consolidation of democratic institutions. He has held various leadership positions in the opposition movement and played a leading role in Codesa I and Codesa II and worked with the committee that drafted the first versions of the Constitutional Principles.
He has held several key posts in the public and private sector, more recently as the Head of the Planning Commission in the Gauteng Provincial Government, and prior to that as the MEC for Economic Development. Between 2004 and 2009 he served as the MEC for Community Safety and as a leader of government business. Cachalia has held several positions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature between 1994 and 2004 – he has served as the Leader of the House, its Speaker and has chaired the Rules Committee and the Petitions Committee.
He also worked for a law firm, then Bell Dewar and Hall for two years and as a researcher in the Centre for Applied Legal Studies in the early 90s.
Cachalia has served in numerous leadership roles over the decades, including as a Council Member of Wits University from 2004 to 2006. He continues to serve on the Mahatma Gandhi Trust and the Ahmed Kathrada Trust. He is widely published and continues to play a significant role within Wits and society.