Attorney Nomfundo Gobodo has been appointed head claims commissioner, the department of rural development said on Monday.

Rural Development Minister Gugile Nkwinti welcomed Cabinet's approval of Gobodo's appointment to the position, spokesman Mtobeli Mxotwa said in a statement.

She is the first woman to be appointed to the post in South Africa.

Gobodo previously worked as the director of the Legal Resources Centre in Johannesburg and as an attorney for the centre in Durban.

“...Gobodo is a qualified attorney with 14 years of vast experience. She has worked on, land, customary law, non-profit in organisation support and access to justice and children's right matters,” Mxotwa said.

She also worked for the Human Rights Commission and at the University of the Western Cape as a legal researcher.

The ministry was confident that her appointment was an impetus to accelerate land reform in the country, Mxotwa said. - Sapa