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School of Law

Professor Tanya Woker

Tanya-Woker-1

Professor Tanya Woker

Professor

Telephone: +27 31 260 2566
Email woker@ukzn.ac.za
Campus: Howard College
Building & Room: HC Building – Suite D, 1st Floor

Biography

Professor Tanya Woker is a lecturer in the fields of Consumer Law and Sale, Lease and Credit Agreements at the School of Law. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree and a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from the University of Natal and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from Rhodes University.

Woker is an Advocate of the High Court, South Africa. Woker served as Vice-Chairperson and then Chairperson of the Consumer Affairs Committee (DTI) from 2000 – 2011. She presently serves as Chairperson of the Financial Services Ombud Schemes Council, and as member of the Financial Services Enforcement Committee as well as a member of the National Consumer Tribunal.

Her book, The Franchise Relationship under South African Law was published in 2012. She is the author of Advertising Law in South Africa and a co-author of Consumer Law in South Africa and the Commentary on the Consumer Protection Act as well as numerous other accredited articles and academic works. Her research interests relate to consumer law and law relating to franchising.

Academic Qualifications

  • BA
  • LLB
  • LLM (Natal)
  • PHD (Rhodes)

Professional Qualifications

  • Advocate of the High Court of South Africa

Research Interests

  • Consumer law
  • Law relating to franchising

Membership of Professional & Other Organisations

  • Chairperson of the Financial Services Ombuds Council
  • Member of the Financial Services Enforcement Committee
  • Member of the National Consumer Tribunal.

Recent Publications and Papers

Books
  • T Woker The Franchise Relationship under South African Law Juta and Co (2013)
  • Advertising Law in South Africa (1999) Juta & Co, Cape Town
Chapters in Books
  • T Naude and S Eiselen (eds) Commentary on the Consumer Protection Act Juta and Co (2014)
    • Woker “The Impact of the CPA on Franchising” (original service 2014) Franchising 1-28
    • Woker “Section 42 – Fraudulent Schemes and Offers” (original service 2014) 1-23
    • Woker “Section 43 – Pyramid and Related Schemes” (original service 2014) 1-10
  • John Scott (ed) The Law of Commerce in South Africa (2014) Oxford
    • Woker Chapter 12 – The Law of Intellectual Property
  • DJ Mcquoid Mason, T Woker, L Greenbaum, I Konyn, C Lakhani, T Cohen Consumer Law Juta1997.
    • Chapter 2 “Consumers and Contracts of Purchase and Sale”; Chapter 4 “Business Practice Statutes and Consumer Protection”;
    • Chapter 8 “Consumer Access to Accurate Advertising Information”
  • P Vrancken (ed) Tourism and Law in South Africa Butterworths 2002;
    • Chapter 4 “Consumer Protection”; Chapter 8 “Insurance Law”
  • Stephen Peté “Socrates and Student Protest in Post-Apartheid South Africa – Part Two” 2015 Journal for Juridical ScienceVolume 40 Number 2 at pages 1 to 23.
  • Stephen Peté “Socrates and Student Protest in Post-Apartheid South Africa – Part One” 2015 Journal for Juridical ScienceVolume 40 Number 1 at pages 1 to 18.
  • Stephen Peté “Holding Up a Mirror to Apartheid South Africa: Public Discourse on the Issue of Overcrowding in South African Prisons 1980 to 1984 – Part Two” 2015 Obiter Volume 36 Number 1 at pages 17 to 40.
  • Stephen Peté “Holding Up a Mirror to Apartheid South Africa: Public Discourse on the Issue of Overcrowding in South African Prisons 1980 to 1984 – Part One” 2014 Obiter Volume 35 Number 3 at pages 485 to 505.
  • Stephen Peté “Apartheid’s Alcatraz – The Barberton Prison Complex during the Early 1980s – Part One” 2015 Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal Volume 18 Number 2 at pages 273 to 304.
  • Stephen Peté “Apartheid’s Alcatraz – The Barberton Prison Complex during the Early 1980s – Part Two” 2015 Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal Volume 18 Number 2 at pages 305 to 330.
Recent Papers Delivered
  • January 2008 presented a paper at the South African Law Teachers’ Conference entitled “Consumer Protection Legislation – why this legislation is necessary”
  • July 2009 presented a paper at the South African Law Teachers’ Conference entitled “Alternative dispute resolution as a means of providing redress for consumers in South Africa”.
  • August 2010 presented a paper at an international conference organised by the University of Pretoria which dealt with assisting debt stressed consumers. The paper was entitled “The National Consumer Tribunal and the role which it plays in assisting debt stressed consumers”.
  • August 2010 presented a paper at the Private Law and social justice conference organised by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth which dealt with the National Consumer Tribunal and its role in obtaining redress for vulnerable poor consumers in South Africa.
  • September 2010 was a key note speaker at the International Conference of Ombuds held in Cape Town and organised by the Long Term Insurance Ombudsman in South Africa. Address was entitled “The Age of the Ombud has arrived in South Africa”
  • January 2011 addressed the Law Teachers Conference, held in Stellenbosch on the subject of plagiarism. My paper was entitled “Oops, I said it again, self-plagiarism, when, or is, text re-use permissible” This paper has been accepted by Obiter for publication.
  • February 2011 Member of a Panel at a Conference organised by the National Consumer Tribunal (Sandton Johannesburg). Purpose of the Panel discussion was to consider the roles of different ombuds and regulators involved in consumer protection and to find ways of co-ordinating their functions.
  • March 2011 – gave a presentation to the Minara Chamber of Commerce on the Consumer Protection Act of 2008
  • April 2011 – gave the key note address at the launch of the Credit Ombuds 2011 Annual Report. Address was entitled “Understanding the Role of Voluntary Ombuds and their importance in protecting consumer rights”
  • June 2011 presented a paper at the International Consumer Law conference to be held at Brunel University in London. The paper was entitled “Understanding how the National Credit Act, 2005 can assist over-indebted consumers in South Africa”.
  • 2012 presented a number of seminars to magistrates and judges on the Consumer Protection Act 2008.
  • January 2013 presented a seminar to KwaZulu Natal Business studies teachers on the Consumer Protection Act 2008
  • August 2014 presented a paper at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Private Law Conference on the Role of the Ombudsmen in Consumer Protection
  • September 2014 presented a paper at the international consumer law conference (Pretoria) entitled Access to redress for Consumers: Rights without redress are meaningless rights
  • November 2014 presented a paper at the African Women in Justice Conference (Johannesburg) entitled “How to lobby for change: a women’s perspective”.
  • July 2015 presented a paper at the Law Teacher’s conference (Durban) entitled “Where are all the women”
  • November 2015 member of a panel at the Department of Trade and Industry conference on consumer protection. Dealt with access to redress for consumers.

INSPIRING GREATNESS

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