The Chief Justice of South Africa is the top judge in South Africa, who exercises final authority over the functioning and management of all the courts. The position of Chief Justice was created upon the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, with the Chief Justice of the Cape Colony Sir Henry de Villiers being appointed the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Africa. National motto: Ex Unitate Vires (Latin: From Unity, strength} Official languages Afrikaans, English. ... -1...

The position of Chief Justice as it stands today was created by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Amendment Act of 2001 as an amalgamation of two previous high-ranking judicial positions of "Chief Justice" and "President of the Constitutional Court".

Chief Justice in a new era

At the time of South Africa's democratisation in the early 1990's, the position of Chief Justice was held by Cambridge University graduate and World War II veteran Michael Corbett. Corbett took office in 1989, succeeding Chief Justice PJ Rabie, who had been scheduled to retire in 1986 at the statutory retirement age of 70, but had had his tenure in office extended ad hoc by President P.W. Botha. Leading South African jurisprudential author David Dyzenhaus regards this as one of the most significant examples of the way in which the National Party manipulated the country's judiciary to ensure that its decisions would be agreeable with the doctrine of Apartheid. According to Dyzenhaus, the only two natural successors to Rabie were both considered unfit for the job - one for being too "weak"; the other too "liberal". [1] The University of Cambridge (often called Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead:17 million Civilian dead:33 million Total dead:50 million Military dead:8 million Civilian dead:4 million Total dead:12 million World War II... Ad hoc is a Latin phrase which means for this [purpose]. It generally signifies a solution that has been tailored to a specific purpose, such as a tailor-made suit, a handcrafted network protocol, and specific-purpose equation and things like that. ... P.W. Botha Pieter Willem Botha, (born January 12, 1916) commonly known as P.W. and Die Groot Krokodil (Afrikaans: The Big Crocodile) was Prime Minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and State President from 1984 to 1989. ... The National Party (Afrikaans: Nasionale Party) (with its members sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats) was the governing party of South Africa from June 4th 1948 until May 9th 1994, and was disbanded in 2005. ...

However with the fall of Apartheid imminent, the progressively-minded Corbett was eventually handed the job of Chief Justice in 1989. Although appointed by the National Party government, Corbett was generally well liked by those in South Africa's new African National Congress-led government, and upon his retirement in 1996 was given a formal state banquet where President Mandela paid tribute to the Chief Justice's "passion for justice", "sensitivity to racial discrimination", "intellectual rigour" and "clarity of thought".[2] The National Party (Afrikaans: Nasionale Party) (with its members sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats) was the governing party of South Africa from June 4th 1948 until May 9th 1994, and was disbanded in 2005. ... The African National Congress (ANC) is a centre-left political party, and has been South Africas governing party supported by a tripartite alliance between itself, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) since the establishment of majority rule in May 1994. ...

The first Chief Justice to be appointed in post-Apartheid South Africa was Ismail Mohammed, a leading South African jurist of Indian descent, who was elected to succeed Corbett in 1997 and eventually took office in 1998. Mohammed held the position until his death in 2000. This article is about the year 2000. ...

Under South Africa's Interim Constitution of 1993 and later the Final Constitution, the importance of the position of Chief Justice as the position of final judicial authority was temporarily relegated beneath that of the President of the newly created Constitutional Court. Ismail Mohammed had been tipped widely for the job of Constitutional Court President but in 1994, President Nelson Mandela appointed leading human rights lawyer and director of the Legal Resources Centre Arthur Chaskalson to the position. In 2001, after Mohammed's death and, consequently, with the position of Chief Justice vacant, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Amendment Act of 2001 fused the positions of Chief Justice and President of the Constitutional Court into one single job of Chief Justice. Chaskalson was subsequently appointed to the new post, although his tasks remained effectively the same. 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... The current and official Constitution of South Africa was adopted on 8 May 1996. ... Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela IPA: (born 18 July 1918) was the first President of South Africa to be elected in fully-representative democratic elections. ... Arthur Chaskalson, (b. ...

In 2005 Chaskalson retired from office and was succeeded by his former deputy Pius Langa. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

List of Chief Justices (Incomplete)

• J.H.de Villiers, 1st Baron de Villiers (1st): 1910–1914
• Sir J. Rose-Innes (2nd): 1914–1927
• Sir W.H.Solomon (3rd): 1927–1929
• J. de Villiers (4th): 1929–1932
• Sir J.W.Wessels (5th): 1932–1936
• J.S.Curlewis (6th): 1936–1938
• J.Stratford (7th): 1938–1939
• N.J.de Wet (8th): 1939–1943
• E.F.Watermeyer (9th): 1943–1950
• A.v.d.S.Centlivres (10th): 1950–1957
• H.A.Fagan (11th): 1957–1959
• L.S.Steyn (12th): 1959 —

• P.J Rabie (15th): — 1989
• Michael Corbett (16th): 1989–1996
• Ismail Mohammed (17th): 1998–2000
• Arthur Chaskalson (18th): 2001–2005
• Pius Langa (19th): 2005–

Arthur Chaskalson, (b. ...

See also

• Constitutional Court of South Africa
• Constitution of South Africa