Professional background and experience:

Peter is an attorney of the High Court of South Africa, a founding member of Cheadle Thompson and Haysom and a founding partner of Harris Nupen Molebatsi Attorneys. He holds a BA LLB (Rhodes), LLM (Warwick), an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Warwick University and is a Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR UK) accredited mediator.

He focuses on advisory services in commercial law, public law, labour law and dispute resolution. He has managed and facilitated complex and sensitive multi-stakeholder facilitations. His clients include governments, state owned entities and blue chip corporates.

Peter led the establishment of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration(CCMA) in 1996. 

He was appointed Director of the Wits/Vaal region of the National Peace Accord and was responsible for brokering agreements between political parties to promote peace and stability in South Africa. and was Chief Director for the Monitoring Directorate of the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa in 1994 (responsible for ensuring the freeness and fairness of South Africa’s first democratic election in April 1994).

Peter worked as Director of Programmes at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in Stockholm and he is an operations consultant to the United Nations (EAD) and has advised in numerous countries for the UN.

He is the editor of the publication “Democracy and Deep Rooted Conflict: Options for Negotiators”, foreword by the former Secretary General of the United Nations Mr Kofi Anan (1998). He is the author of a number of fiction and non-fiction books.

Mediation experience and style:

Peter qualified as a mediator and arbitrator in 1986 under the auspices of the Independent Mediation Service of South Africa (IMSSA) and has conducted over 1,000 processes in the labour, commercial and community arena. He frequently manages complex and sensitive multi-stakeholder mediations and facilitations. 

Chairing enquiries and investigations experience:

Peter has chaired numerous Commissions of Enquiry and conducted complex forensic investigations in the private and public sectors.