The Constitutional Court of South Africa is the supreme constitutional court established by the Constitution of South Africa, and is the apex court in the South African judicial system, with general jurisdiction.
The Court was first established by the Interim Constitution of 1993, and its first session began in February 1995. It has continued in existence under the Constitution of 1996. The Court sits in the city of Johannesburg. After initially occupying commercial offices in Braamfontein, it now sits in a purpose-built complex on Constitution Hill. The first court session in the new complex was held in February 2004. Originally the final appellate court for constitutional matters, since the enactment of the Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution in 2013, the Constitutional Court has jurisdiction to hear any matter if it is in the interests of justice for it to do so.
The Constitutional Court consists of eleven judges who are appointed by the President of South Africa from a list drawn up by the Judicial Service Commission. The judges serve for a term of twelve years. The Court is headed by the Chief Justice of South Africa and the Deputy Chief Justice. The Constitution requires that a matter before the Court be heard by at least eight judges. In practice, all eleven judges hear almost every case. Decisions are reached by a majority and written reasons are given.
History
The movement for the establishment of a constitutional court in South Africa was begun in 1920 by the African National Congress (ANC).
By 1956, judges and liberals in the country had drawn up a bill of rights in support of the creation of the court. The first meeting of selected members of the court took place in 1994. In 1995, President Nelson Mandela appeared at the court to deliver a speech for its commissioning. According to South African History Online Mandela said, "The last time I appeared in court was to hear whether or not I was going to be sentenced to death. Fortunately for myself and my colleagues we were not. Today I rise not as an accused, but on behalf of the people of South Africa, to inaugurate a court South Africa has never had, a court on which hinges the future of our democracy."
The Constitutional Court building
Constitution Hill is the seat of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. The Constitution Hill precinct is located at 11 Kotze Street in Braamfontein, Johannesburg near the western end of the suburb of Hillbrow. The Hill overlooks downtown Johannesburg to the South and the wealthy northern suburbs of Houghton, Parktown and Sandton to the north.
The court building was constructed using bricks from the demolished awaiting-trial wing of the former prison. Most of the prison was demolished to make way for the new court, but the stairwells were kept and incorporated into the new building as a reminder of the Constitution's transformative aspirations. Inside the main room, a row of horizontal windows has been set up behind the seats of the judges. While the windows are at head-height on the inside, they are on ground level on the outside. Those sitting in the court consequently have a view of the feet of passersby moving along, above the heads of the judges, to remind them that in a constitutional democracy the role of judges is to act in the interests of the people of the nation, rather than in their own self-interest. The first court session in the new building at this location was held in February 2004. The court building is open to the public who want to attend hearings or view the art gallery in the court atrium. The court houses a collection of more than 200 contemporary artworks chosen by Constitutional Court judge Albie Sachs, including works by Gerard Sekoto, William Kentridge, and Cecil Skotnes.
The doors to the court have the 27 rights of the Bill of Rights carved into them, written in 11 of the 12 official languages of South Africa. The twelfth official language, amended to the constitution in 2023, South African Sign Language, is a manual language and was not included in the original 2004 design, which called for the 11 oral languages codified official by the 1996 constitution.
One of the retained stairwells features a declarative wall sculpture, contributed by the Johannesburg artist Thomas Mulcaire. Mulcaire employed neon lighting tubes to spell-out the Portuguese words A luta continua (the struggle continues); the tubes were then wall-mounted in the 1902 stairwell. A luta continua, in South Africa, dates back to the 1970's, as an anti-Apartheid slogan, inspired by and in solidarity with the anti-colonial war, against Portugal, in South Africa's lusophone neighbour Mozambique. In continuous use, under British-colonial and Apartheid rule, the remnant stairwell now connects floors of the 2004 structure, with Mulcaire's sculpture tying the past of the space to its present and future.
Justices
Appointment procedure and tenure
Sections 174 to 178 of the Constitution deal with the appointment of judicial officers. Judges may not be members of Parliament, of the government or of political parties. To select judges the Judicial Service Commission first draws up a list of candidates, which must have at least three more names than the number of vacancies. The Commission does this after calling for nominations and holding public interviews. Then the President, after consultation with the Chief Justice and the leaders of political parties represented in the National Assembly, chooses the judges from this list.
In terms of section 176(1) of the Constitution, judges of the Constitutional Court serve for a non-renewable term of 12 years or until they reach the age of 70, whichever is earlier; but these limits may be extended by an Act of Parliament. Section 4 of the Judges' Remuneration and Conditions of Employment Act 47 of 2001 has extended the term limit to an effective term of 15 years including prior service on other courts. The effect is that judges who had served more than 3 years before their appointment to the Constitutional Court retain a 12-year term limit; those who did not, have a longer tenure. The same section delays the retirement age for judges who reach the age of 70 before reaching 15 years of judicial service (including prior service on other courts); their term on the Constitutional Court is extended to age 75 or 15 years of service, whichever is earlier.
Current justices
Name Born Appt. by Age at appt. First day /Length of service Mand. retirementPrevious positions Succeeded Mandisa Maya (Chief Justice of South Africa) (age )in Tsolo, Eastern Cape 58 (Deputy Chief Justice) 60 (Chief Justice) 20 March 2034 Eastern Cape High CourtSupreme Court of Appeal Mogoeng Mogoeng Raymond Zondo (as Deputy Chief Justice and Chief Justice)Dunstan Mlambo (Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa) (age )in Bushbuckridge, MpumalangaCyril Ramaphosa6518 September 2029 Labour Court of South AfricaSupreme Court of AppealGauteng High Court Sisi Khampepe Mandisa Maya (as Deputy Chief Justice) (age )in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape 51 1 December 2027 Eastern Cape High CourtSupreme Court of Appeal Thembile Skweyiya (age )in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal 51 1 July 2029 KwaZulu-Natal High CourtSupreme Court of Appeal Johann van der Westhuizen (age )in Kenhardt, Northern Cape 58 18 December 2030 Northern Cape High CourtSupreme Court of Appeal Dikgang Moseneke (age )in Cefane, Ngcobo, Eastern Cape 58 11 January 2031 South Gauteng High CourtSupreme Court of Appeal Bess Nkabinde (age )in Lady Selbourne, Pretoria, Gauteng 64 19 May 2027 North Gauteng High Court Edwin Cameron (age )in Gauteng 58 28 January 2033 South Gauteng High CourtSupreme Court of Appeal Johan Froneman (age )in Cape Town, Western Cape 63 22 October 2028 Western Cape High CourtCompetition Appeal Court Chris Jafta (age )in Qonce, Eastern Cape 61 31 October 2034 Eastern Cape High CourtSupreme Court of Appeal Raymond Zondo (age )in Johannesburg, Gauteng 58 10 January 2038 Western Cape High CourtLabour Appeal Court Mbuyiseli Madlanga
Former chief justices
Arthur Chaskalson (born 1931, appointed by Nelson Mandela as President of the Constitutional Court in 1994, became the Chief Justice in 2001, retired in 2005 and died in 2012) Pius Langa (born 1939, appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1994, elevated to Deputy President of the Court by Mandela in 1997, became Deputy Chief Justice in 2001, elevated to Chief Justice by Thabo Mbeki in 2005, retired in 2009 and died in 2013) Sandile Ngcobo (born 1953, appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1999 and elevated by Jacob Zuma in 2009 and retired in 2011) Mogoeng Mogoeng (born 1961, appointed by Jacob Zuma in 2009 and elevated in 2011 and retired in 2021) Raymond Zondo (born 1960, appointed by Jacob Zuma in 2012, became Deputy Chief Justice in 2017, elevated to Chief Justice by Cyril Ramaphosa in 2022 and retired in 2024)
Former deputy chief justices
Pius Langa, appointed in 2001, elevated to Chief Justice by President Thabo Mbeki in 2005, retired in 2009, died in 2013. Dikgang Moseneke, appointed to the Constitutional Court in 2002 by President Thabo Mbeki, elevated to Deputy Chief Justice in 2005, a position he held until his retirement in May 2016. Raymond Zondo, appointed to the Constitutional Court in September 2012 by President Jacob Zuma, elevated to Deputy Chief Justice by President Jacob Zuma and later Chief Justice by President Cyril Ramaphosa as of April 2022, retired in 2024. Mandisa Maya, appointed to the Constitutional Court as Deputy Chief Justice in September 2022 from the position of President of the Supreme Court of Appeal by President Cyril Ramaphosa, elevated to Chief Justice in 2024.
Former justices
John Didcott (born 1931, appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1995, died in office in 1998) Ismail Mahomed (born 1934, appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1995, elevated to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeal in 1998, died in 2000) Richard Goldstone (born 1938, appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1994, retired in 2003) Johann Kriegler (born 1932, appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1994, retired in 2003) Lourens Ackermann (born 1934, appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1994, retired in 2004) Tholie Madala (born 1937, appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1994, retired in 2008, died in 2010) Yvonne Mokgoro (born 1950, appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1994, retired in 2009) Kate O'Regan (born 1957, appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1994, retired in 2009) Albie Sachs (born 1935, appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1994, retired in 2009) Zak Yacoob (born 1948, appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1998, retired in 2013) Thembile Skweyiya (appointed by Thabo Mbeki in 2003, retired in 2014, died in 2015) Johann van der Westhuizen (appointed by Thabo Mbeki in 2004, retired in 2016) Bess Nkabinde (appointed by Thabo Mbeki in 2006, retired in 2018) Edwin Cameron (appointed by Kgalema Motlanthe in 2009, retired in 2019) Johan Froneman (appointed by Jacob Zuma in 2009, retired in 2020) Chris Jafta (appointed by Jacob Zuma in 2009, retired in 2021) Sisi Khampepe (appointed by Jacob Zuma in 2009, retired in 2021) Mbuyiseli Madlanga (appointed by Jacob Zuma in 2013, retired in 2025)
The Constitution as the supreme law
The judgments of the court are based on the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land. They enforce the basic rights and freedoms of all persons. They are binding on all organs of government, including the parliament, the presidency, the police force, the army, the public service and all courts. This means that the Court has the power to declare an Act of Parliament null and void if it conflicts with the Constitution and to control executive action in the same way.