MEMBERS
LLB (UCT) LLM (Georgetown) PhD (UKZN)
Safura Abdool Karim
In 2022, Safura completed her pupillage at the Johannesburg Society of Advocates under the mentorship of Lerato Zikalala. She holds chambers at Bridge Group of Advocates and is a door member of Ubunye Chambers.
Prior to being called to the Bar, Safura clerked for Justice Leona Theron at the Constitutional Court and practised at a commercial law firm in Sandton. She also worked at prominent health law organisations including the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, and the University of the Western Cape School of Public Health. She completed a joint post-doctoral fellowship at the Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University.
Safura combines practice with academic and research work. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, a Research Associate at Ethics Lab, University of Cape Town, and a commissioner on the Lancet Global Health Commission on Artificial Intelligence and HIV.
Safura has appeared in the Constitutional Court, the High Court, and the Labour Court. Her preferred areas of practice are public law, including constitutional, administrative, health, environmental, competition, labour, and regulatory law. She has a particular strength at the intersection of law and public health. Notable matters and reported judgments include Mncwabe v President of the Republic of South Africa 2023 (11) BCLR 1342 (CC), Solidarity Trade Union v Minister of Health [2024] ZAGPPHC 677, Van Wyk and Others v Minister of Employment and Labour 2024 (1) SA 545 (GJ) and Board of Healthcare Funders v President of the Republic of South Africa [2025] ZAGPPHC 429.