Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke

Date of Birth

20 December 1947

University

BA, BIuris, LLB (UNISA)

History at the Court:

Appointed: 29 November 2002

Appointed as Deputy Chief Justice: June 2005

Brief biography

Justice Moseneke was arrested at the age of 15 and convicted for participating in anti-apartheid activities. He was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment. While serving his sentence on Robben Island, Justice Moseneke studied for his matriculation and successfully completed his tertiary education.

Justice Moseneke started his professional career as an article clerk at Klagbruns Inc in Pretoria in 1976. In 1978 he was admitted and practised for five years as an attorney, and later a partner, at the law firm Maluleke, Seriti and Moseneke.

In 1983 Justice Moseneke was called to the Bar and practised as an advocate in Johannesburg and Pretoria. Ten years later, in 1993, he was elevated to the status of senior counsel.

In 1986 Justice Moseneke was appointed visiting fellow and lecturer at Columbia Law School at the University of Columbia, New York.

In 1993 Moseneke served on the technical committee that drafted the Interim Constitution. In 1994 he was appointed deputy chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission, which conducted the first democratic elections in South Africa.

In September 1994 Justice Moseneke accepted an acting appointment to the Transvaal Provincial Division of the Supreme Court.

Between 1995 and 2001 Justice Moseneke left the Bar to pursue a full-time corporate career, during which time he held the position of chairperson of the following companies (from which he has since resigned): Telkom South Africa Limited, African Merchant Bank, Metropolitan Life Limited, African Bank Investments Limited and Alisa Car Rental.  He was also a director of New Africa Publications (Proprietary) Limited, Phaphama Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, Urban Brew (Proprietary) Limited and Life Officers’ Association.

Justice Moseneke was also a founder member of the Black Lawyers Association and of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers of South Africa.

Prior to his appointment at the Constitutional Court, Justice Moseneke served as a judge of the High Court in Pretoria.

Justice Moseneke is currently the chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand.  He has been awarded honorary doctorates in law, commerce and technology by the following universities:

  • University of the North;
  • University of Natal (now University of KwaZulu-Natal);
  • Tshwane University of Technology;
  • UNISA; and
  • City University of New York.

Selection of Judgments written