FORMER chief justice Pius Langa died on Wednesday morning at the age of 74, his family said. “The former chief justice of South Africa, Justice Pius Langa, died this morning at the Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg,” his brother Mandla said in a statement. He had been in hospital for about a month following a long illness. Langa was born in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, and served the Department of Justice for 17 years before becoming an advocate of the Supreme Court of South Africa in 1977. He was appointed to the Bench by former president Nelson Mandela in 1994. Langa was among the first group of judges selected for the Constitutional Court, established in 1994 under the country’s first democratic constitution, and became chief justice in 2005 under the Mbeki administration. In his own words Read an abridged version of a talk Pius Langa gave in June 2011 on harnessing the constitution in the battle against poverty He retired in 2009 and went on to chair the Press Freedom Commission, which looked into the regulation of the print media in South Africa. Jeremy Gauntlett SC said Langa’s passing left a “universal sense of loss in the legal profession”. “Pius Langa had all the qualities of a chief justice, especially in upholding the dignity of the office,” he said. “He was considered to be a wise and fair lawyer and sought to make peace, not division.” Mr Gauntlett said Langa’s post-retirement work with the Press Freedom Commission was greatly respected, as was his work as acting judge of appeal at the Supreme Court of Namibia. Recalling his interactions with Langa, Mr Gauntlett said: “I first met him when he was appearing as council in security trials while I was doing the same thing. He was then always a very steady hand in any case, with absolute integrity and independence. He was a model for many legal practitioners.” The Presidency said President Jacob Zuma was saddened to learn of Langa’s death. “The country has lost one of its best legal minds, a dedicated human rights jurist and a veteran struggle activist,” Mr Zuma said. Calling Langa a “soft-spoken, kind-hearted legal eagle”, the African National Congress said he “ably represented many of our comrades during the dark days of apartheid. Apart from this role, Justice Langa himself was a committed, seasoned activist and leader, fighting against the evil system of apartheid under the banner of the National Democratic Lawyers Association, which was part of the family of the United Democratic Front.” United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa said in a statement that Langa’s humble beginnings “should inspire young South Africans to work hard because it is possible to achieve greatness”. “He will be remembered for his sterling contribution to the transformation of justice in South Africa,” Mr Holomisa said. “It is wonderful that he was honoured for this contribution in his own lifetime, with the Order of the Baobab, so that he could know how much South Africa appreciated that he had dedicated his life to achieving a fair justice system in this country.” Langa received the Order of the Baobab from Mr Mbeki in 2008 for his service in law, constitutional jurisprudence and human rights.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 18:35:02 +0000
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