Johannesburg - Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke looked solemnly around the room as he entered the Constitutional Court bench for the last time on Friday morning.
A special ceremony was held at the court to mark his retirement following a legal career that spanned four decades.
Moseneke started off by speaking about one of his favourite topics - education.
“Education is the light of the nation,” he said.
Lawyers wearing black robes filled the foyer of the court ahead of proceedings, speaking quietly among themselves. Also in court were his family members, veteran human rights lawyer George Bizos, former Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, law students and journalists.
Paying tribute to Moseneke, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said: “We can’t thank you enough for having ensured that South Africa gets to have this lawyer of exceptional abilities and a legal giant. Without doubt you made an enormous contribution to the enrichment of our jurisprudence.”
Moseneke has served on the Constitutional Court bench since November 2002 and was appointed Deputy Chief Justice in June 2005.
His career started in 1976 when he worked as an attorney’s clerk at Klagbruns Inc in Pretoria. Two years later he was admitted and spent the next five years practising as an attorney and a partner at the law firm Maluleke, Seriti and Moseneke. After that he practised as an advocate in both Joburg and Pretoria and 10 years later received senior counsel status.
It was in the six years before Moseneke was admitted to the Constitutional Court that he took a six-year break from the legal world to pursue his corporate career. This included being the chairperson of Telkom, Metropolitan Life and African Bank Investments.
Moseneke was part of the technical committee that drafted the interim constitution of 1993, but his contributions to democracy started long before his legal career did.
At the age of 15 he was arrested and convicted for taking part in anti-apartheid activity and jailed on Robben Island for 10 years.
During his incarceration he obtained a BA in English and political science, a B Iuris degree and later an LLB, through Unisa.
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The Star