Durban judge becomes a Concourt Justice

Justice Leona Theron

Justice Leona Theron

Published Jul 3, 2017

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A Durban-born judge has been appointed to the highest court in the land.

The Presidency made the announcement at the weekend explaining that Justice Leona Valerie Theron was filling the vacancy left by the discharge from active service of Justice Johan van der Westhuizen.

The Presidency said President Jacob Zuma had appointed Theron as a Judge of the Constitutional Court with effect from July 1 after consulting with Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and leaders of parties represented in the National Assembly. 

Justice Theron has served on the bench for more than 18 years, including acting positions in various courts, among them the Supreme Court of Appeal. The president congratulated Theron and wished her all the best in her new “important responsibility” of advancing South Africa’s constitutional democracy.

Theron, 50, according to her CV on the Supreme Court of Appeals website, attended Sparks Estate Senior Secondary School in Sydenham and completed her BA and LLB at the University of Natal (now known as the University of KwaZulu-Natal).

She later, after winning a Fulbright scholarship in 1990, completed her LLM degree in Washington DC.

Through her career, she also served in various academic positions at both UKZN and Mangosuthu Technikon.

Theron was also an acting judge in the Eastern Cape and was appointed to the bench in KwaZulu-Natal.

She served as acting judge at the Supreme Court of Appeal from May 2006 to June 2007, and December 2009 to March 2010 before being appointed as a judge of appeal at the same court from December 2010. 

Theron was also an acting judge of the Constitutional Court from January to May 2015.

She has received the KZN Legal Forum Award for Contribution to the Development of Justice in South Africa and is a founding member of the South African Chapter of the International Association of Woman Judges (IAWJ).

Chairman of Advocates for Transformation KwaZulu-Natal and the former chair of the KZN Bar Council Rajesh Choudree welcomed Theron’s appointment.

“She’s had an outstanding academic and professional career. We are very proud that one of our own has been appointed to this court. There is no doubt that she will continue to excel with distinction.”

Being a woman of colour during apartheid, he said, presented its fair share of challenges, which Theron had surmounted with ease.

He lauded her adoption of causes like women’s and children’s rights during her career.

The Mercury

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