Recognising Service Excellence in Higher Education
- Wits University
Tasneem Wadvalla honoured for excellence in University service
Wits University’s Head of Legal Services and Chief of 足球竞彩app排名 in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Tasneem Wadvalla, has been honoured with the 2025 Higher Education Resource Services South Africa (HERS-SA) Women in Support Services Award for her exceptional contribution as a professional member of staff in higher education and for her institutional stewardship in support services.
The award, made in August 2025, recognises nearly two decades of dedicated service to higher education, and to Wits, where she has served for 17 years. Anyone who knows Tasneem, will know that she is a champion of governance and operational excellence at the University.
In her dual capacity as Head of Legal Services and Chief of 足球竞彩app排名 to the Vice-Chancellor, Ms Wadvalla plays a pivotal role, together with the teams she works with and leads, in safeguarding Wits’ institutional integrity. She also manages and oversees the strategic and operational functions of the Vice-Chancellor’s Office, supports executive decision-making, and represents the institution on key governance bodies, including Council, Senate, and the Wits Group of Companies.
In her role as the Head of Legal Services, Tasneem is responsible for stewarding the University’s contracting, compliance, regulatory and disciplinary processes and litigation matters that often carry sector-wide implications. She also advises on governance-related issues critical to the University’s stability and reputation.
For Wadvalla, the award is shared with all the professional and administrative staff she has worked with over the years, who she describes as the backbone of higher education institutions. She says: “Professional and administrative staff play a vital role in supporting the developmental agenda of universities. We provide the scaffolding that enables academics to advance cutting-edge research and to develop new generations of leaders and thinkers who contribute to society in meaningful ways.”
She adds: “Professional and administrative staff and in particular, female support staff members do not always receive due recognition for their contribution to the sector. HERS-SA’s role in showcasing and rewarding excellence in this domain is therefore welcomed.”
Dr Beukes, the Chairperson, on behalf of the HERS-SA Board commended Ms Wadvalla for her ongoing impact within the sector. “We are proud to recognise Ms Wadvalla as an exemplar of integrity and excellence in governance. Her work demonstrates the indispensable contribution of women in support roles whose insight, diligence, and leadership sustain our institutions.”
Wadvalla credits her success to the “phenomenal teams” with whom she works with and the mentors who have guided her journey. “To honour those who mentored me, I am intentional about mentoring and developing others. It is this very cycle of support and the re-centring of people and their development as a key resource, which is so critical in a sector such as ours” she says.
An admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa, Wadvalla holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Law and an LLB from the former Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg). Before joining Wits in 2008, she practised at Wright Rose-Innes Attorneys, Notaries and Conveyancers Incorporated. Over the years, she has served under two Vice-Chancellors - Professors Adam Habib and Zeblon Vilakazi - and has been instrumental in strengthening institutional governance and fostering collaboration across the Wits Group.
The HERS-SA award recognises not only her individual excellence but also her enduring commitment to collective advancement and institutional continuity.
“I am honoured to serve an institution that stands for excellence, integrity, and impact,” she says. “As professionals and support service staff, we are all custodians of this great university. It is our shared responsibility to protect its values, strengthen its systems and support the people who make its mission possible.”
