Speakers

Keynote Address

Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke

Justice Dikgang Moseneke has played a key role in South Africa’s transition to democracy and in the shaping of its constitutional jurisprudence.

Moseneke, imprisoned at the age of 15 for protesting apartheid, spent 10 years on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela. He studied for his university degree while behind bars and worked as an attorney after his release. Thereafter he was called to the Bar and became a senior counsel in 1993. He was appointed a Judge of the High Court in Pretoria and thereafter served as a Judge of the Constitutional Court and was appointed Deputy Chief Justice in 2005.

Following his retirement Justice Moseneke has become a leading arbitrator and is a Vice President of the AFSA International Court as well as a Chairperson of the AFSA-SADC Panel of Arbitrators. Justice Moseneke is the holder of fourteen honorary doctorates and has served as Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand. He was recently appointed as an ad hoc Justice at the ICJ in the proceedings between South Africa and Israel.

Keynote Speakers

Chief Justice Raymond Mnyamezeli Mlungisi Zondo

Justice Raymond Mnyamezeli Mlungisi Zondo is currently serving as Chief Justice of South Africa since 2022. President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Justice Zondo as South Africa’s new chief justice with effect from 1 April 2022. Born at Ixopo, Kwa-Zulu Natal, he is married and he and his wife are blessed with four children.

Justice Zondo has had an illustrious career and some of the highlights include his appointment as a member of the Ministerial Task Team given the task of producing a draft Labour Relations Bill for the post-apartheid South Africa which was later passed as the Labour Relations Act, 1995. In 1996 he was appointed as the first chairperson of the Governing Body of the Commission for the Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) from which he resigned upon appointment as a Judge.

His career as a judge saw him appointed as an Judge of the Labour Court; a Judge of the then Transvaal Provincial Division of the High Court (now the North Gauteng Division of the High Court) in Pretoria; Acting Judge President of the Labour Appeal Court and Labour Court; followed by his appointment as Judge President of the Labour Appeal Court and Labour Court for a term of office of ten years.

After completing his term of office as Judge President in 2010, Justice Zondo returned to the North Gauteng Division of the High Court and resumed his duties as a Judge of that court. In 2011 he was appointed as an Acting Judge of the Constitutional Court and in September 2012 appointed as a Judge of the Constitutional Court.

In June 2017 he was appointed as Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa and on 01 April 2022, he was appointed as Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa.

Deputy Minister John Jeffery

Deputy Minister Jeffery is South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development. He studied law at the University of Natal and holds BA and LLB degrees, as well as a postgraduate diploma in environmental law, all from the University of Natal. He is an admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.

He is a member of the ruling party, the African National Congress. After South Africa’s transition to a constitutional democracy in 1994, Mr Jeffery became a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature where he chaired the Environment and Conservation Portfolio Committee.

Mr Jeffery has been a member of the National Assembly of Parliament since 1999. He is a former member of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development where he was instrumental in shaping a number of pieces of legislation such as, amongst others, the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007 and the Child Justice Act, 2008.

He has held the position of Parliamentary Counsellor to the President and Deputy President from 1999 to July 2013, serving under Presidents Mbeki, Motlanthe and Zuma. He was appointed as Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development in July 2013 and was re-appointed in 2019 by President Cyril Ramaphosa for a second term of office. Mr Jeffery is passionate about justice, human rights and constitutional awareness.