Born in Bushbuckridge in South Africa on 25 March 1939, Pius Nkonzo Langa, the second of seven children born to deeply devout parents, completed his high school education through private study and then obtained the B Iuris and LL B degrees (in 1973 and 1976 respectively) by long-distance learning through the University of South Africa. His working life commenced in 1957 at a shirt factory; between 1960 and 1977 he served in various capacities in the Department of Justice from interpreter/messenger to magistrate. He was admitted as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of South Africa in June 1977, practised at the Natal Bar and attained the rank of Senior Counsel in January 1994
When the Constitutional Court of South Africa was established with the advent of a post-apartheid constitutional and democratic era in 1994, Justice Langa was appointed together with ten others as the first judges of the new Court. He became its Deputy President in August 1997 and in November 2001 assumed the position of Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa. He was appointed the country’s Chief Justice and head of the Constitutional Court with effect from June 2005 and served until his retirement in October 2009. As Chief Justice he chaired the Judicial Service Commission and the Southern African Judges Commission, a forum of regional chief justices. He was also a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Justice Langa’s practice as an advocate reflected the struggle against the apartheid system and his clientele thus included the underprivileged, various civic bodies, trade unions and people charged with political offences under the oppressive apartheid security legislation
He served on the executive committee of the Democratic Lawyers Association (DLA) and was a founder member of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL) and its President from 1988 to 1994. In addition he served on the boards and as a trustee of various law-related institutions, and was involved in the founding of the South African Legal Defence Fund (SALDEF). He served as a commissioner on the pre-constitutional Human Rights Commission (later known as the Human Rights Committee).
As a township resident in his early working life, he constantly involved himself in community work and in attempts to improve the quality of life in the communities around him. He helped organise civic organisations and residents' associations and gave guidance to youth and recreational clubs.
During the '80s and early '90s he served in the structures of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and was involved in the work of the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) and of its successor, the Multi-Party Negotiating Forum. He was also a member of the Constitutional Committee of the African National Congress and a member of the advisor group during the Groote Schuur and Pretoria “Talks-about-Talks”. A founder member of the Release Mandela Committee (Natal), he was a member of the Regional and National Reception Committees formed to prepare for and accelerate the release of political prisoners. He was appointed to the Police Board to assist with the transformation of the police services under the aegis of the National Peace Accord, which was set up to stem the violence that plagued parts of South Africa in the '80s and early '90s, chaired the technical committee to review and rationalise health legislation, was a member of the first commission of inquiry appointed by President Mandela (the 1994 Commission of Inquiry into Unrest in Prisons) and was a member of the 1998 "Mohamed Commission" which inquired into certain allegations in the so-called "Meiring Report".
In the same year, 1998, he chaired a commission probing the Lesotho elections on behalf of the Southern African Development and Economic Community (SADC) and in 2000 he was appointed the Commonwealth’s Special Envoy to assist the Fiji Islands’ return to democracy. He subsequently participated in the work of constitutional review commissions in Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Tanzania and led a delegation of the International Bar Association (IBA) to Cameroon, at the request of the Cameroon Government, to review and integrate that country’s system of criminal procedure. He was a member of the Judicial Integrity Group which was responsible for the compilation of the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct (2002).
Over the years Justice Langa organised and/or participated in numerous conferences, workshops and seminars on human rights, justice and other constitutional issues and delivered speeches on various related topics in South Africa and in many countries abroad.
Justice Langa was appointed an honorary professor in the Department of Procedural and Clinical Law at the University of Natal in June 1998 and served for several years as Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. He was Chancellor of the University of Natal (1998-2004) and the first Chancellor of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (2006-2010).
Justice Langa garnered awards for the advancement of justice and human rights from the Black Lawyers Association, the National Association of Democratic Lawyers and the Judicial Council of the American National Bar Association. He was awarded the 2004 Justice Prize jointly with the then Chief Justice, Justice Arthur Chaskalson, by the Peter Gruber Foundation (USA) and the 2006 Sydney and Felicia Kentridge Award for Service to Justice. In March 2008 he was honoured with the eThekwini Living Legends award, together with other local figures who had excelled in their respective fields, and the following month President Thabo Mbeki bestowed upon him the Order of the Supreme Counsellor of the Baobab: Gold.
At home the Universities of Zululand, the Western Cape, Cape Town and South Africa and Rhodes University, and abroad Yale University, the National University of Ireland and North-Eastern University (Boston) all awarded him honorary doctorates.
A family man, Justice Langa married Thandekile Mncwabe (1944-2009) in 1966; the marriage was blessed with six children and a number of grandchildren.
Justice Langa died in Johannesburg on 24 July 2013.
Service on the Constitutional Court
- Justice 1994 - 2001 Appointed by President Nelson Mandela
- Deputy Chief Justice 2001 - 2005
- Elevated by President Thabo Mbheki to Chief Justice 2005 - 2009
Former Chief Justice Pius Langa farewell video
Speeches
Judging in a Changing Society: South African Context
Second Judicial Conference for South African Judges
Obituaries and Tributes
The Presidency: President Jacob Zuma conveys his condolences on the passing of former Chief Justice Langa
Office of the Chief Justice: Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng pays tribute to Pius Langa
Deputy Chief Justice Moseneke:Tribute to former Chief Justice Pius Langa
Minister Jeff Radebe: Speech by Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Jeff Radebe on the occasion of the memorial service of the late Chief Justice Langa
Acrhbishop Desmond Tutu tribute on the death of former chief justice langa
Law Society of South Africa Law society saddened at death of former chief justice pius langa
For more Obituaries and Tributes for the Judge Click Here
JSC Interviews
JSC interview
JSC interview for the CJ Position
Personal details
Tholakele Hope Madala was born in Kokstad on 13 July 1937. He was married to Patricia Alice Ndileka Madala, a non-practising advocate of the High Court, with whom he had three children and two grandsons.
Education
After matriculating at St John's College in Umtata in 1956, Justice Madala proceeded to Fort Hare University where he obtained a BA (Rhodes) degree and a UED (SA) diploma. He taught at the Lovedale Institute in Alice and in Swaziland before taking up law at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg in 1972. He was instrumental in setting up the first legal aid clinic on the Pietermaritzburg campus to provide a service to the indigent.
Professional history
Until 1980 Justice Madala lectured at the University of Transkei, initially full-time but later part-time. Subsequently he practised as an attorney, chairing the Transkei Attorneys' Association, and was admitted as an advocate in 1982. In his legal practice Justice Madala handled many human rights cases and he and other lawyers interested in the protection of the rights of the underprivileged established the Umtata Law Clinic under the auspices of the Umtata and Districts Lawyers' Association.
From 1987 to 1990 he served as vice-chairperson of the Society of Advocates of Transkei and from 1991 to 1993 as chairperson, representing the society on the General Council of the Bar. Justice Madala took silk in 1993 and was elevated to the Bench in 1994, becoming the first black judge in the Eastern Cape and the fourth black judge in South Africa. In October of the same year he was appointed a founding judge of the Constitutional Court.
In 1995 the Legal Education Centre of the Black Lawyers Association (BLA) presented him with an award in recognition of his contribution in the area of human rights and in April 1999 his alma mater, the University of Natal, awarded him an honorary LLD.
Other activities
Justice Madala was a founder member and director of the Prisoners' Welfare Programmes, an association established in 1985 to provide legal, financial and educational assistance to political detainees, prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families.
For varying periods Justice Madala served on the council of the University of Transkei and on the board of that University's Law Faculty. In addition he served on the Transkeian Medical Council and was a founder member of the board of the Thembelitsha Centre for the Rehabilitation of Drug Dependents.
On his appointment to the Bench, Justice Madala stepped down as deputy chairperson of the Transkei National Building Society.
Over many years he participated in a range of seminars and conferences and delivered papers on constitutional and human rights issues in South Africa, Cyprus, France, Ireland, Malawi, Swaziland and the United States.
Justice Madala retired from the Constitutional Court in 2008 and until his death on 25 August 2010 remained a member of the BLA, serving as a trustee of its Legal Education Centre – a cause close to his heart. He was also the chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of St John and Deputy Chancellor of the Church of the Province of South Africa.
Service in the Constitutional Court
- Justice 1994 - 2008
Judge Madala was directly appointed by the President of the Republic of South Africa under the interim Constitution and was therefore not interviewed by the Judicial Service Commission. This mode of appointment is no longer followed.
Obituaries and Tributes
- Law Society of South Africa
- Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
- General Council of the Bar
Articles
- News24 "Retired Constitutional court Judge Dies
- News24 "Law Society remembers Madala"
Justice Arthur Chaskalson (1931 - 2012)
Chief Justice of South Africa (2001-2005)
Arthur Chaskalson was appointed by President Nelson Mandela in June 1994 to be the first President of South Africa's new Constitutional Court and was Chief Justice of South Africa from November 2001 until his retirement in 2005 .On his retirement he was described by President Mbeki as a “giant among the architects of our democracy”.
He was born in Johannesburg on 24 November 1931 and was married to Dr Lorraine Chaskalson. Two children were born of the marriage – Matthew, born 12 August 1963 and Jerome, born 1 August 1967.
Justice Chaskalson was a graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand, B Com (1952), LLB cum laude (1954), was a member of the University’s football team and was selected for the Combined South African Universities football team in 1952. He was admitted to the Johannesburg Bar in May 1956 and took silk in July 1971. During his career at the Bar he appeared as counsel on behalf of members of the liberation movements in several major political trials between 1960 and 1994, including the Rivonia Trial in 1963/1964 at which Mr. Nelson Mandela and other leaders of the African National Congress were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. He also appeared as counsel in major commercial disputes.
In 1978 he helped establish the Legal Resources Centre, a non-profit organisation, which sought to use law to pursue justice and human rights in South Africa, and was its director from November 1978 until September 1993. During that period he was leading counsel in several cases in which successful challenges were launched by the Legal Resources Centre against the implementation of apartheid laws.
He was a member of the Johannesburg Bar Council from 1967 to 1971 and from 1973 to 1984, the Chairman of the Johannesburg Bar in 1976 and again in 1982, a member and later Convenor of the National Bar Examination Board (1979-1991), and the Vice Chairman of the General Council of the Bar of South Africa (1982-1987).
He was a member of the Board of the Faculty of Law of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg [1979 – 1999], an Honorary Professor of Law at that University from 1981 to 1995, a member of its board for the Centre for Applied Legal Studies from 1979 to 1994, a member of the National Council of Lawyers for Human Rights (1980-1991), Vice Chairman of the International Legal Aid Division of the International Bar Association (1983-1993) and Chairman of the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee for South Africa (1988-1993).
He was a member of the Judicial Service Commission from 1994 until 2005, and its chairperson from 21 November 2001 until his retirement on 31 May 2005. He was elected as an honorary member of the Bar Association of the City of New York in 1985, of the Boston Bar Association in 1991, and of the Johannesburg Bar in 2002. He was a visiting professor at Columbia University in New York, 1987 - 1988, and again in 2004, and was a Distinguished Global Fellow at New York University School of Law.
He was a consultant to the Namibian Constituent Assembly in connection with the drafting of the Constitution of Namibia (December 1989-March 1990), a Consultant to the African National Congress on constitutional issues (April 1990-April 1994), and served as a member of the Technical Committee on Constitutional Issues, appointed by the Multi Party Negotiating Forum in May 1993 to give advice on constitutional matters to the Forum (which negotiated the transition to democracy in South Africa), and to draft on its behalf the transitional constitution, which was finalised and adopted in December 1993.
He was the President of the International Commission of Jurists from 2004 to 2008, was the Chairperson of a committee of senior judges appointed by the United Nations Environmental Programme to promote and develop judicial education on environmental law in all parts of the world, was the first chairperson of the Southern African Judges Commission, an association of the Chief Justices of Southern Africa, and chaired the Eminent Jurists Panel appointed by the International Commission of Jurists to enquire into the impact of terrorism and counter-terrorism on the rule of law, human rights law, and where relevant, international humanitarian law. He was an elected member of the South African Academy of Science, a Foreign Honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Science, a trustee of the Legal Resources Trust, the Constitutional Court Trust, and the Constitution Hill Trust, and a member of the board of the South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional Law.
He was awarded honorary degrees of Doctor of Laws by the University of Natal in 1986, the University of the Witwatersrand in 1990, Rhodes University in 1997, the University of Amsterdam in 2002, Port Elizabeth University in 2002, the University of South Africa in 2004, the University of the Western Cape and the University of Pretoria, both in 2006, and Stellenbosch University in 2008. He received the Premier Group Award for prestigious service by a member of the Faculty of Law at the University of the Witwatersrand in 1983, the Claude Harris Leon Foundation award for community service and the Wits Alumni Honour Award for exceptional service to the community, both in 1984, was the joint recipient of the Human Rights Award for 1990 of the Foundation for Freedom and Human Rights, Berne, Switzerland, and received awards for his work in the promotion of human rights and constitutionalism from the General Council of the Bar of South Africa (the Sydney and Felicia Kentridge award), from the Jewish Board of Deputies, from Rotary (the Paul Harris Award), from Lawyers for Human Rights in South Africa, and from the Constitution Hill Trust. In 2004 he was the co-recipient with Chief Justice Langa of the Peter Gruber Justice Prize, and in 2007 he was the co-recipient with Ms Wangari Maathai of the 2007 Nelson Mandela Award for Human Rights and Health.
He participated in conferences and delivered lectures concerned with constitutional issues, human rights and legal services in South Africa, Australia, Austria, Bosnia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mauritius, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, Tanzania, Uganda, United States of America, United Kingdom, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In December 2002 he received the award of Supreme Counsellor of the Order of the Baobab [Gold], a national honour, for his service to the nation in respect of constitutionalism, human rights and democracy.
Justice Chaskalson died in Johannesburg on 1 December 2012.
Service on the Constitutional Court
- Appointed by President Nelson Mandela as President of the Constitutional Court 1994 - 2001
- Chief Justice 2001 - 2005
Speeches
The Rule of Law: The importance of independent courts and legal professions 9 November 2012
Without fear, favour or prejudice:the courts, the constitution and transformation 26 January 2012
Obituaries and Tributes
Advocate Geoff Budlender SC “A tribute to Arthur Chaskalson” (taken from Ground up).
President Jacob Zuma: "Tribute to legal legend Arthur Chaskalson" (taken from SABC).
George Bizos SC: “The Arthur Chaskalson I knew”
5. Judge Edwin Cameron: “Chaskalson was a pillar of strength in my battle against HIV/AIDS”
Judge Dennis Davis: “Arthur Chaskalson 1931 – 2012: Lifetime devoted to justice”.
Janet Love (Legal Resources Centre National Director): “In memoriam of Arthur Chaskalson”.
For more obituaries and tributes Click Here
Articles
Mail & Guardian: “SA mourns former chief justice Arthur Chaskalson.” 3 December 2012
Daily Maverick “Death of a lion of the law, Arthur Chaskalson.” 3 December 2012
Times Live “Condolences pour in for Chaskalson.” 2 December 2012
Speech at the Judges’ conference to mark the inauguration of the new building for the Constitutional Court of South Africa "The vision of the South African Constitution"