AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER
SOUTH Africa has its first female chief justice, albeit on a temporary basis.
And the career of the man she is standing for may be coming to an ignoble end.
Constitutional Court Judge Sisi Khampepe has been named as the acting-Chief Justice after Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng went on a long leave. The reasons for Mogoeng’s long leave and the period have not been made public, raising suspicion that this may be the end of his career. His term of office ends in October.
Khampepe was appointed to the highest judicial office in SA because the automatic choice, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, is presiding over the commission into state capture, theft and corruption.
In a statement, the Constitutional Court said: In terms of the Superior Courts Act, as acting chief justice, Justice Khampepe will exercise the powers and perform the functions of the chief justice as acting chief justice.”
According to the statement, Judge Khampepe’s career spans over 40 years.
After graduating with an LLM degree at Havard University in the US, she served articles at Bowman Gilfilan. She later started her own practice, SV Khampepe Attorneys and became renowned for her work in defence of workers against unjust laws and unfair employment practices.
Judge Khampepe, who was first appointed to the bench in 2000, held the following positions:
- Appointed by President Nelson Mandela to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
- In 2004 President Thabo Mbeki appointed her to oversee the Zimbabwe elections.
- In February 2006, the secretary-general of the Commonwealth, Donald McKinnon seconded her as a member of the Commonwealth Oberver Group to the Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Uganda.
- In 2005 and 2006, she chaired a Commision of Inquiry into the Scorpions.
- She served as acting Deputy Judge President of the Labour Court before being appointed to the Constitutional Court in 2009.
Mogoeng went on leave weeks after he had appealed a decision by the Judicial Conduct Committee that must apologise and retract his comments on South Africa’s relations with Israel.
