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{{Short description|South African Constitutional Court judge}}{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}{{Use South African English|date=October 2019}}

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Soweto, Transvaal province>TransvaalUnion of South Africa| death_date = | death_place = | restingplace = | restingplacecoordinates = | birthname = | nationality = South African| spouse = Siza Khampepe| partner = | relations = | children = | alma_mater = University of ZululandHarvard Law School| occupation = | religion = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = | blank1 = | data1 = | blank2 = | data2 = | blank3 = | data3 = | blank4 = | data4 = | blank5 = | data5 = | termstart1 = November 2007| termend1 = 11 October 2009Labour Appeal Court of South Africa>Labour Appeal Court| termend2 = 11 October 2009| termstart2 = 1 December 2000| appointer1 = Thabo Mbeki| 1blankname2 = Division| 1namedata2 = Transvaal Provincial Division}}Sisi Virginia Khampepe (born 8 January 1957) is a retired South African judge who served in the Constitutional Court of South Africa between October 2009 and October 2021. Formerly a prominent labour lawyer, she joined the bench in December 2000 as a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division. She was also a member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.Born in Soweto, Khampepe entered legal practice as a fellow of the Legal Resources Centre before she gained admission as an attorney in 1985. For a decade thereafter, she ran her own firm in Johannesburg, primarily representing employees and trade unions in labour law matters. Between 1995 and 1998, she served at the appointment of President Nelson Mandela as a member of the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and from 1998 to 1999 she was a director in the National Prosecuting Authority. In December 2000, President Thabo Mbeki appointed her as a judge of the High Court of South Africa, and he additionally appointed her to the Labour Appeal Court in November 2007. During this time, Khampepe chaired the high-profile Khampepe Commission which advised against the disbanding of the Scorpions. After President Jacob Zuma elevated her to the Constitutional Court in October 2009, she served a full 12-year term in the apex court. Her best-known judgment was Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture v Zuma, in which she sentenced former President Zuma to imprisonment for contempt of court.

Early life and education

Khampepe was born on 8 January 1957 in the township of Soweto, where she grew up.WEB, Justice Sisi Khampepe (2009–2021),www.concourt.org.za/index.php/judges/current-judges/11-former-judges/78-justice-sisi-khampepe, 2024-02-22, Constitutional Court of South Africa, The youngest of three sisters,WEB, Plessis, Wendy du, 2022-09-12, Women in Business and Leadership: Sisi Khampepe,www.acumenmagazine.co.za/articles/women-in-business-and-leadership-12099.html, 2024-02-22, Acumen, en, she was born into a Zulu family.WEB, Cameron, Edwin, 22 August 2019, The fight for our constitutional values is now urgent more than ever,www.news24.com/news24/edwin-cameron-the-fight-for-our-constitutional-values-is-now-urgent-more-than-ever-20190822, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, She attended Mosepele Primary School in Soweto and matriculated in 1975 at Dlwangezwa High School in Natal Province.JOURNAL, April 2001, New judges,www.sabar.co.za/law-journals/2001/april/2001-april-vol014-no1-pp21-22.pdf, Consultus, General Council of the Bar, 14, 22, 1, 11 October 2012, During her childhood, Khampepe’s mother, a domestic worker, often left her in the care of her uncle, until he was arrested for contravening pass laws and forced to return to Natal, where he was stabbed to death; Khampepe’s mother blamed the apartheid law for his death.WEB, 2020-10-09, Justice Sisi Khampepe,ourconstitution.wethepeoplesa.org/justice-sisi-khampepe/, 2024-02-22, Our Constitution, en-US, Also formative for Khampepe’s interest in the legal profession was her involvement in competitive debating in high school. One of her coaches told her that she reminded him of politician Helen Suzman and that, if she went to university, she should study law as Suzman had.After matriculating, she studied law at the University of Zululand in Empangeni, where she completed a BProc in 1980 and where she was, in her own words, “always one of the top in my class”. During her vacations as a student in 1979 and 1980, she worked as a legal adviser at the Industrial Aid Society, which advocated for the labour rights of black workers. After graduation, she accepted a fellowship at the Legal Resources Centre, which lasted between 1981 and 1983. During that period, one of her former professors encouraged her to apply for a postgraduate scholarship, and she ultimately moved to Massachusetts to attend Harvard Law School, completing an LLM in 1982.

Legal career

Practice as an attorney

Upon her return to South Africa, Khampepe struggled to find a placement for her articles of clerkship at any of the few firms that would allow her to practice labour law. With the assistance of her teenage inspiration, Helen Suzman, and the Legal Resources Centre’s Felicia Kentridge, she was ultimately recruited as a candidate attorney at Bowman Gilfillan, where she served her articles from 1983. She later said that the firm’s clients were resistant to being represented in litigation by a young black woman.After she was admitted as an attorney in the Transvaal in 1985, Khampepe established her own firm, SV Khampepe Attorneys, of which she remained the sole director for the next decade. Her clients included hawkers, civic organisations, black consumer unions (including the National Black Consumer Union from 1985 to 1986), and the Orlando Pirates Football Club. However, she specialised in labour law, later describing herself as having been “a labour lawyer at heart, through and through”. Her firm frequently defended workers against unfair employment practices, and it also represented various trade unions affiliated to the progressive National Council of Trade Unions and Congress of South African Trade Unions. As national legal advisor to the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union, she was a trustee of the union’s investment trust when it was established in the 1990s; and from 1990 to 1995, she was the administrator of the trade unions’ fund of the international Federation international des employés. She was also a member of the Black Lawyers’ Association throughout her legal career, and, in Soweto, she was a facilitator of the local street committee.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

On 15 December 1995, Khampepe was among the 17 individuals appointed by President Nelson Mandela to the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission, chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. She served in the commission’s Amnesty Committee, which heard applications for grants of amnesty to those who had committed politically motivated human rights violations.BOOK, Reddy, Vasu, South Africa Human Rights Yearbook, 1998, 8, 267-298, Truth and Reconciliation Commission,journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/EJC34820, There she worked closely with Bernard Ngoepe, another commissioner and a judge, who became a mentor to her and ultimately influenced her decision to join the judiciary.

National Prosecuting Authority

Upon the conclusion of the commission’s work, in September 1998, Khampepe was appointed to the newly established National Prosecuting Authority as Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions under Bulelani Ngcuka. She held that position until December 1999.

Gauteng High Court: 2000–2009

On 31 October 2000, President Thabo Mbeki announced that Khampepe would join the bench as a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the High Court of South Africa (later the North Gauteng Division), then led by her mentor, Bernard Ngoepe.NEWS, 31 October 2000, Mbeki approves appointment of judges,allafrica.com/stories/200010310043.html, 21 January 2024, WOZA, She took office on 1 December 2000. She later moved to sit in Johannesburg in the Witwatersrand Local Division (later the South Gauteng Division).WEB, 2009-08-04, Book of SA Women: Judges,mg.co.za/article/2009-08-04-book-of-sa-women-judges/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, During her High Court Service, Khampepe was appointed as the vice-chairperson of the National Council for Correctional Services in 2005 (a position she held until 2010), and Donald McKinnon of the Commonwealth of Nations seconded her as a member of the Commonwealth Observer Group to the 2006 Ugandan general election. In addition, President Mbeki appointed her to two high-profile government panels in South Africa.

Khampepe Report

In 2002, President Mbeki appointed Khampepe and Judge Dikgang Moseneke to lead a judicial observer mission to the 2002 Zimbabwean presidential election, the outcome of which was disputed due to claims of vote-rigging by Robert Mugabe’s ZANU–PF. Khampepe and Moseneke’s report, the so-called Khampepe Report, was not published; instead, Mbeki relied on a favourable report from another mission, the larger South African Observer Mission, in endorsing Mugabe’s re-election as valid.WEB, Allison, Simon, 2014-11-17, The Khampepe Report, a crushing blow to SA’s diplomatic credibility,www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2014-11-17-analysis-the-khampepe-report-a-crushing-blow-to-sas-diplomatic-credibility/, 2024-02-22, Daily Maverick, en, The Mail & Guardian subsequently launched a prolonged campaign to gain access to the Khampepe Report, lodging a request in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act and fighting governmental appeals, under three successive South African presidents, in three courts.WEB, 2013-02-01, Khampepe report: Keeping you in the dark,mg.co.za/article/2013-02-01-00-khampepe-report-keeping-you-in-the-dark/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, WEB, 2014-11-14, M&G wins right to view Khampepe Report on Zim elections,mg.co.za/article/2014-11-14-mg-wins-right-to-view-khampepe-report-on-zim-elections/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, The report was finally made public in November 2014, and it transpired that Khampepe and Moseneke had advised Mbeki that the 2002 election was not free or fair.WEB, 2014-11-14, Khampepe: Zim’s 2002 elections not free and fair,mg.co.za/article/2014-11-14-khampepe-zimbabwes-2002-elections-not-free-and-fair/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA,

Khampepe Commission

{{See also|Khampepe Commission|Scorpions (South Africa)#Khampepe Commission}}In March 2005, President Mbeki appointed Khampepe to lead a one-person commission of inquiry into the future of the Directorate of Special Operations, the specialised anti-corruption unit better known as the Scorpions. She was tasked with investigating the mandate of the Scorpions, its relationship with other law enforcement agencies, and its location under the National Prosecuting Authority.NEWS, 18 March 2005, Mbeki leaves Scorpions’ fate up to one man,www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/mbeki-leaves-scorpions-fate-up-to-one-man-236728, 22 February 2024, IOL, WEB, 2005-03-17, Mbeki appoints judge to decide fate of Scorpions,mg.co.za/article/2005-03-17-mbeki-appoints-judge-to-decide-fate-of-scorpions/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, The appointment was viewed as a “hot political potato”, given that the Scorpions had conducted several high-profile investigations into sitting politicians.’ The Khampepe Commission conducted its work between April 2005 and February 2006,’ but Khampepe’s report was not released to the public until May 2008.WEB, 5 May 2008, Khampepe: Scorpions must stay,www.news24.com/news24/khampepe-scorpions-must-stay-20080505, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, Her report was broadly supportive of the Scorpions, concluding that it fulfilled a valuable mandate and recommending that it should continue to exist as a unit of the National Prosecuting Authority, though under the political oversight of the Minister of Safety and Security rather than the Minister of Justice.WEB, 2008-05-05, Khampepe: Scorpions must stay,mg.co.za/article/2008-05-05-khampepe-scorpions-must-stay/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, However, by the time the report was released, Mbeki’s political party, the African National Congress (ANC), had already initiated legislation to disband the Scorpions entirely.JOURNAL, Montesh, Moses, 2016-03-08, Countering corruption in South Africa: The rise and fall of the Scorpions and Hawks,journals.assaf.org.za/index.php/sacq/article/view/845, South African Crime Quarterly, 39, 10.17159/2413-3108/2012/v0i39a845, 2413-3108, free, Nonetheless, observers said that Khampepe’s “principled line” and “politically incorrect defence of the unit’s prosecutorial independence” cemented her public profile and her reputation as a judge.WEB, 1 September 2009, You be the judge,www.news24.com/news24/you-be-the-judge-20150429, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US,

Labour Appeal Court

On 19 November 2007, President Mbeki appointed Khampepe as a judge of the specialised Labour Appeal Court of South Africa. She took office later the same month,’ alongside Judges Dennis Davis and Monica Leeuw.WEB, 19 November 2007, T Mbeki on appointment of judges,www.gov.za/news/t-mbeki-appointment-judges-19-nov-2007, 2024-02-22, South African Government, She was nominated to the court by its acting Judge President, Ronnie Bosielo, and was its only woman judge at the time of her appointment.NEWS, 20 December 2007, Mbeki approves judges’ appointment,www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/mbeki-approves-judges-appointment-383400, 7 January 2024, IOL, During her two years there, she served a stint as acting Deputy Judge President.’

Constitutional Court: 2009–2021

Nomination

In August 2009, Khampepe was among the 24 candidates whom the Judicial Service Commission shortlisted for possible appointment to four vacancies on the Constitutional Court of South Africa, arising from the respective resignations of Justices Pius Langa, Yvonne Mokgoro, Kate O’Regan, and Albie Sachs. Khampepe was regarded as one of the frontrunners, both because she was respected as a judge and because of her “perceived closeness” to Justice Sandile Ngcobo, who was earmarked for appointment as Chief Justice of South Africa.WEB, 2009-09-18, D-Day for Concourt candidates,mg.co.za/article/2009-09-18-dday-for-concourt-candidates/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, She was interviewed by the Judicial Service Commission on 21 September in Kliptown, Soweto, and the panel asked her primarily about her experience as the head of the Khampepe Commission and her treatment of political stakeholders in that process.WEB, 2009-09-21, Judge Jafta revisits Hlophe controversy,mg.co.za/article/2009-09-21-judge-jafta-revisits-hlophe-controversy/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, The Mail & Guardian viewed these questions as indicative of the Judicial Service Commission’s “soft handling” of Khampepe.WEB, 2009-09-24, Constitutional Court hearings: Now it’s up to Zuma,mg.co.za/article/2009-09-24-constitutional-court-hearings-now-its-up-to-zuma/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, The following day, upon the conclusion of its interviews, the Judicial Service Commission endorsed Khampepe and six other candidates as suitable for appointment.WEB, 22 September 2009, JSC names ConCourt shortlist,www.news24.com/news24/jsc-names-concourt-shortlist-20090922, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, Anonymous sources told News24 that Khampepe had the unanimous support of the commission’s members, including Justice Minister Jeff Radebe and outgoing Chief Justice Pius Langa, less because of her jurisprudence than because of “her wide experience and her ability to apply her mind”.WEB, 26 September 2009, Then there were seven...,www.news24.com/news24/archives/city-press/then-there-were-seven-20150429, 2024-02-22, City Press, en-US, On 11 October 2009, President Jacob Zuma announced that he had appointed Khampepe and three others – Johan Froneman, Chris Jafta, and Mogoeng Mogoeng – to the Constitutional Court bench, with effect from the following day.WEB, 11 October 2009, President Zuma appoints four Constitutional Court judges,www.gov.za/news/media-statements/president-zuma-appoints-four-constitutional-court-judges-11-oct-2009, 2024-01-16, South African Government, File:Fullsizeoutput 58.jpg|thumb|A 2017 hearing of the Constitutional Court of South AfricaConstitutional Court of South Africa

Judicial leadership

Justice Edwin Cameron later characterised Khampepe as “perhaps the second most powerful person in this Court after the Chief Justice”, and in 2011, as Ngcobo’s retirement approached, she was regarded as one of the frontrunners in the race to succeed him as Chief Justice,WEB, 2011-08-12, Ncgobo’s last judgment,mg.co.za/article/2011-08-12-ncgobos-last-judgment/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, especially given rumours that Ngcobo himself supported her elevation.WEB, 2011-08-05, The ConCourt contenders,mg.co.za/article/2011-08-05-the-concourt-contenders/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, Although Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke was considered to be the overall favourite, commentators believed that Khampepe would be the foremost candidate if President Zuma elected to appoint a woman; according to Eusebius McKaiser, she was “more politically acceptable to the ANC than other options”.WEB, 1 August 2011, Perceptions of him within the ANC might be hurdle,www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2011-08-01-perceptions-of-him-within-the-anc-might-be-hurdle/, 2024-02-22, Sowetan, en-ZA, Over the objections of civil society groups, both Moseneke and Khampepe were ultimately overlooked in favour of Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.WEB, 3 September 2011, Unjust chief justice saga,www.news24.com/news24/unjust-chief-justice-saga-20150429, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, However, there were reports that Zuma had offered the position to Khampepe ahead of Moseneke, but that she had declined because she felt that Moseneke was better-qualified.WEB, Plessis, Carien du, 2011-08-18, Chief Justice controversy: Why did Sisi Khampepe say no to Jacob Zuma?,www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2011-08-18-chief-justice-controversy-why-did-sisi-khampepe-say-no-to-jacob-zuma/, 2024-02-22, Daily Maverick, en, In later years, Zuma’s successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, twice appointed Khampepe to fill in for Mogoeng as Acting Chief Justice, once in 2019 and once in 2021; on both occasions, she assumed Mogoeng’s office through appointment as Acting Deputy Chief Justice in place of Raymond Zondo, who at the time was presiding over his commission of inquiry into state capture.WEB, Chabalala, Jeanette, 5 November 2019, Ramaphosa appoints Constitutional Court judge Sisi Khampepe as acting deputy chief justice,www.news24.com/news24/ramaphosa-appoints-constitutional-court-judge-sisi-khampepe-as-acting-deputy-chief-justice-20191105, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, WEB, Bhengu, Lwandile, 5 May 2021, Justice Sisi Khampepe appointed as acting chief justice,www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/justice-sisi-khampepe-appointed-as-acting-chief-justice-20210505, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, She additionally served as the chairperson of the court’s Artworks Committee from 2015 onwards, having joined the committee in 2012 as a birthday present to Justice Johann van der Westhuizen.WEB, Judges interviews: Justice Sisi Khampepe,ccac.concourttrust.org.za/judges-interviews, 2024-02-22, Constitutional Court Art Collection, en,

Jurisprudence

At the end of Khampepe’s tenure in the Constitutional Court, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo singled out for commendation her jurisprudence “on the rights of women and children, and other vulnerable members of society”.WEB, 2021-10-13, Zondo thanks retiring Justices Khampepe and Jafta for their service,mg.co.za/news/2021-10-13-zondo-thanks-retiring-justices-khampepe-and-jafta-for-their-service/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, This included notably her judgment in Teddy Bear Clinic v Minister of Justice, handed down unanimously in 2013, which decriminalised consensual sexual acts between minor children and which was widely heralded as progressive.WEB, 2013-10-03, Concourt slaps down ‘unconstitutional’ sections of Sexual Offences Act,mg.co.za/article/2013-10-03-concourt-dismiss-sections-of-sexual-offences-act-as-unconstitional/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, WEB, 2013-10-17, Applause for Mogoeng’s judicial cadenza,mg.co.za/news/2013-10-17-applause-for-mogoengs-judicial-cadenza/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, Likewise, in the labour law matter of Mankayi v AngloGold Ashanti, Khampepe wrote on behalf of the majority in finding that mineworkers with occupational lung disease were entitled to institute civil claims against their employers;JOURNAL, Tshoose, Ci, 2012-02-01, Justice delayed is justice denied: Protecting Miners against Occupational injuries and diseases: Comments on Mankayi v Anglogold Ashanti Ltd 2011 32 ILJ 545 (CC),www.ajol.info/index.php/pelj/article/view/73342, Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal/Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad, 14, 7, 10.4314/pelj.v14i7.10, 1727-3781, free, this holding enabled an unprecedented flurry of class action litigation against South African mines.JOURNAL, Brickhill, Jason, 2021-01-02, A river of disease: Silicosis and the future of class actions in South Africa,www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02587203.2021.1963834, South African Journal on Human Rights, en, 37, 1, 31–58, 10.1080/02587203.2021.1963834, 0258-7203, free, Also welcomed was Khampepe’s majority concurring judgment in Tshabalala v S; Ntuli v S, which contained various obiter remarks about the nature of rape in patriarchy; she characterised rape as fundamentally “an abuse of power expressed in a sexual way” and as “structural and systemic” rather than “unusual and deviant”.WEB, 2019-12-13, Editorial: ConCourt finds patriarchy guilty,mg.co.za/article/2019-12-13-00-editorial-concourt-finds-patriarchy-guilty/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, Her minority judgment in AB v Minister of Social Development was described as a “tour de force infused with both reason and compassion” and based on an expansive conception of reproductive rights.JOURNAL, Thaldar, Donrich, 2023, Building a Progressive Reproductive Law in South Africa,www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10733757/, Health and Human Rights, 25, 2, 43–52, 1079-0969, 38145130, File:Zuma at Soccer City.jpg|thumb|President Jacob Zuma, who appointed Khampepe to the apex court, was imprisoned as a result of her judgment in Zuma II.]]Zuma judgments“>

Zuma judgments

{{See also|Jacob Zuma contempt of court}}Khampepe herself considered the highlight of her career to be her defence of the rule of law in Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture v Zuma (Zuma II), the June 2021 judgment in which Khampepe wrote for the court’s majority in sentencing former President Zuma to 15 months’ imprisonment for contempt of court. Khampepe, who was acting as Chief Justice at the time, wrote that Zuma had “left this court with no real choice” but to imprison him.WEB, Maughan, Karyn, 29 June 2021, Justice Khampepe: Zuma gave ConCourt ‘no choice’ but to imprison him,www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/justice-khampepe-zuma-gave-concourt-no-choice-but-to-imprison-him-20210629, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, The ruling was significant because it marked the first time that the Constitutional Court had imprisoned someone for contempt of court,WEB, 30 June 2021, End of the line, as top court puts Jacob Zuma behind bars,www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2021-06-30-news-analysis-end-of-the-line-as-top-court-puts-zuma-behind-bars/, 2024-02-22, Business Day, en-ZA, but also because of its political sensitivity; Zuma’s arrest the following week was followed by an outbreak of civil unrest. Khampepe later said that, though aware of the judgment’s political significance, “I felt the same way that I feel when handing down any judgment... I had a sense of simply discharging my constitutional obligations”.WEB, Maughan, Karyn, 16 May 2022, ‘We could not pander to Mr Zuma’ – Khampepe on why ConCourt had to send him to jail,www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/exclusive-we-could-not-pander-to-mr-zuma-khampepe-on-why-concourt-had-to-send-him-to-jail-20220516, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, Asked about the Jacob Zuma Foundation’s claim that the judgment was “emotional and angry”,WEB, Haffajee, Ferial, 2021-07-01, Jacob Zuma draws from the patriarch’s playbook as he insults Judge Sisi Khampepe,www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-07-01-zuma-draws-from-the-patriarchs-playbook-as-he-insults-judge-sisi-khampepe/, 2024-02-22, Daily Maverick, en, she said that she had expected “these misogynistic attacks”.Described by Ferial Haffajee as a “decisive defence of the rule of law” and by Pierre de Vos as a “forceful and eloquent defence of the judiciary”,WEB, Haffajee, Ferial, 2021-06-29, Lady Justice thunders at Zuma as former head of state sentenced to 15 months without option of an appeal,www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-06-29-lady-justice-thunders-at-zuma-as-former-head-of-state-sentenced-to-15-months-without-option-of-an-appeal/, 2024-02-22, Daily Maverick, en, Khampepe’s Zuma II judgment was viewed as momentous and was welcomed by civil society organisations including AfriForum, Corruption Watch, Freedom Under Law, and Frank Chikane’s Defend Our Democracy campaign.WEB, Chabalala, Jeanette, 29 June 2021, Zuma judgment ‘of great importance for the rule of law’ - Zondo Commission,www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/zuma-judgment-of-great-importance-for-the-rule-of-law-zondo-commission-20210629, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, Adriaan Basson said that the judgment was “proof of the supremacy of the Constitution and will have a chilling effect on generations of delinquent politicians”,WEB, Basson, Adriaan, 29 June 2021, Jacob Zuma: The guillotine finally falls on a serial constitutional delinquent,www.news24.com/news24/opinions/columnists/adriaanbasson/first-take-jacob-zuma-the-guillotine-finally-falls-on-a-serial-constitutional-delinquent-20210629, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, and Richard Calland said that “there could be no clearer or stronger sign of the independence of the judiciary” than the judgment.WEB, Calland, Richard, 31 August 2021, South Africa is due to get a new chief justice: What it takes to do the job well,www.news24.com/news24/opinions/analysis/richard-calland-south-africa-is-due-to-get-a-new-chief-justice-what-it-takes-to-do-the-job-well-20210831, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, However, some commentators worried that the judgment neglected Zuma’s right to a fair trial,JOURNAL, Fisher, Christopher, Naidoo, Divashnee, 2023, Revisiting the Imprisonment of Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma for Contempt of Court by the Constitutional Court,journals.co.za/doi/10.2989/CCR.2023.0014, Constitutional Court Review, en, 13, 1, 363–413, 10.2989/CCR.2023.0014, 2073-6215, free, an argument that was made sharply by Justice Leona Theron in her dissenting judgment.WEB, Mafora, Dan, 2021-07-27, ‘My sister is mistaken’ and other responses to dissent in Zuma contempt case,mg.co.za/thoughtleader/opinion/2021-07-27-my-sister-is-mistaken-and-other-responses-to-dissent-in-zuma-contempt-case/, 2023-11-23, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, In Zuma v Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture (Zuma III), a related judgment handed down three months later, Khampepe wrote on behalf of the same majority in dismissing Zuma’s application for rescission of the Zuma II order.WEB, Macupe, Bongekile, 17 September 2021, Constitutional Court says Zuma cannot pick and choose when to cooperate with the law,www.news24.com/citypress/news/constitutional-court-says-zuma-cannot-pick-and-choose-when-to-cooperate-with-the-law-20210917, 2024-02-22, City Press, en-US, Though Zuma’s spokesman, Mzwanele Manyi, called this judgment a “miscarriage of justice”,WEB, Khumalo, Juniour, 17 September 2021, Zuma Foundation outraged over ConCourt’s ‘miscarriage of justice’,www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/zuma-foundation-outraged-by-concourts-miscarriage-of-justice-20210917, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, it was commended for resisting Zuma’s so-called Stalingrad tactics; quoting approvingly from Khampepe’s opening paragraph, which stated that, “Like all things in life, like the best of times and the worst of times, litigation must, at some point, come to an end”, Mpumelelo Mkhabela suggested that the doctrine of legal finality should be renamed the Khampepe Doctrine in her honour.WEB, Mkhabela, Mpumelelo, 13 July 2022, We need people like Justice Khampepe to make rule of law non-negotiable,www.news24.com/news24/opinions/columnists/mpumelelo_mkhabela/mpumelelo-mkhabela-we-need-people-like-justice-khampepe-to-make-rule-of-law-non-negotiable-20220713, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US,

Retirement

Khampepe retired from the judiciary on 11 October 2021, at the end of her non-renewable 12-year term in the Constitutional Court.WEB, Seleka, Ntwaagae, 13 October 2021, Justices Sisi Khampepe and Chris Jafta join Mogoeng in retirement from ConCourt,www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/justices-sisi-khampepe-and-chris-jafta-join-mogoeng-in-retirement-from-concourt-20211013, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US,

Higher education

In May 2022, Khampepe was appointed to succeed Wiseman Nkuhlu as the Chancellor of the University of Pretoria; she began her renewable five-year term on 28 June 2022.WEB, Monama, Tebogo, 20 May 2022, Former ConCourt Justice Sisi Khampepe is the University of Pretoria’s new chancellor,www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/former-concourt-justice-sisi-khampepe-is-the-university-of-pretorias-new-chancellor-20220520, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, The following month, the University of Stellenbosch appointed her to conduct an independent inquiry into allegations of racism at the institution, which had proliferated in the wake of a video of a student urinating on a black student’s belongings in the Huis Marais residence.WEB, Charles, Marvin, 3 June 2022, Justice Sisi Khampepe appointed to lead inquiry into racism at Stellenbosch University,www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/justice-sisi-khampepe-appointed-to-lead-inquiry-into-racism-at-stellenbosch-university-20220603, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, WEB, 3 June 2022, Justice Sisi Khampepe to probe racism allegations at Stellenbosch University,www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2022-06-03-justice-sisi-khampepe-to-probe-racism-allegations-at-stellenbosch-university/, 2024-02-22, Sunday Times, en-ZA, Her findings, published in November 2022, pointed to “a very toxic culture” at Huis Marais, which she recommended should be addressed through various governance reforms.WEB, Charles, Marvin, 8 November 2022, Panel slams ‘toxic culture’ at Huis Marais and calls for language review at Stellenbosch University,www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/panel-slams-toxic-culture-at-huis-marais-and-calls-for-language-review-at-stellenbosch-university-20221108, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, She also recommended a review of the university’s language policy, observing an enduring “cultural preference” for the use of Afrikaans, which she said caused linguistic exclusion and racial division.WEB, Charles, Marvin, 9 November 2022, ‘Afrikaans speakers cannot be denied’: AfriForum slams Khampepe’s Stellenbosch University racism report,www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/afrikaans-speakers-cannot-be-denied-afriforum-slams-khampepes-stellenbosch-university-racism-report-20221109, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, This recommendation attracted the ire of AfriForum and of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), which said it would seek judicial review of the report; DA politician Leon Schreiber accused Khampepe of “equating Afrikaans with racism”.WEB, Charles, Marvin, 9 November 2022, ‘Black people feel unwelcome’: Khampepe report slams Stellenbosch University language policy, DA to take it on review,www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/black-people-feel-unwelcome-khampepe-report-slams-stellenbosch-university-language-policy-da-to-take-it-on-review-20221109, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, In November 2022, Khampepe was appointed to an independent panel at the University of Cape Town, which, under the chairmanship of retired Judge of Appeal Lex Mpati, was tasked with investigating allegations of governance failures at the university, including alleged gross misconduct by controversial vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng.WEB, Basson, Adriaan, 11 November 2022, UCT’s troubles are worrying, says retired judge Lex Mpati,www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/exclusive-ucts-troubles-are-worrying-says-retired-judge-lex-mpati-20221111, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US,

Other activities

In September 2023, Panyaza Lesufi, the Premier of Gauteng, appointed Khampepe to chair a three-member commission of inquiry into a recent deadly fire in an illegally occupied government building in Marshalltown, Johannesburg.WEB, Bhengu, Cebelihle, 5 September 2023, Joburg fire: Former ConCourt Judge Sisi Khampepe to lead inquiry into deadly Marshalltown blaze,www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/joburg-fire-former-concourt-judge-sisi-khampepe-to-lead-inquiry-into-deadly-marshalltown-blaze-20230905, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, During the commission’s proceedings, Khampepe recused a co-commissioner, Thulani Makhubela, saying that his involvement would create an appearance of bias because he had previously used his Twitter account to voice support for xenophobic organisations, including Operation Dudula.WEB, Pheto, Belinda, 20 December 2023, Khampepe Inquiry: Controversial commissioner recused over anti-foreigner posts on X,www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/khampepe-inquiry-controversial-commissioner-recused-over-anti-foreigner-posts-on-x-20231220, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, Dudula objected strongly, accusing Khampepe of “cheap politicking” and calling for her own removal from the commission.WEB, Mzangwe, Lunga, 2023-12-23, Incensed: Retired justice’s comments fire up operation Dudula,www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/incensed-retired-justices-comments-fire-up-operation-dudula/, 2024-02-22, The Citizen, en, In November 2020, Danny Jordaan announced that Khampepe would be appointed to chair the newly established ethics committee of the South African Football Association (Safa).WEB, 22 November 2020, Constitutional Court Judge Sisi Khampepe to head Safa’s newly established ethics committee,www.timeslive.co.za/sport/soccer/2020-11-22-constitutional-court-judge-sisi-khampepe-to-head-safas-newly-established-ethics-committee/, 2024-02-22, Sunday Times, en-ZA, In that capacity, she was called on to investigate various allegations of corruption in Safa.WEB, Malepa, Tiisetso, 23 February 2023, Safa tasks respected judge with investigating corruption allegations,www.news24.com/citypress/sport/safa-tasks-respected-judge-with-investigating-corruption-allegations-20230223, 2024-02-22, City Press, en-US,

Personal life

She is married to businessman Siza Khampepe, with whom she has two children, a son and a daughter, both born before she joined the bench. Her husband was a director of a firm, Kgorong Investment Holdings, which received a subcontract in the controversial Arms Deal;WEB, Philander, Rusana, 3 April 2005, Scorpions probe ‘may be biased’,www.news24.com/news24/scorpions-probe-may-be-biased-20050403, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US, reports in this connection caused a minor stir during the Khampepe Commission, because the Scorpions had investigated and prosecuted corruption in the Arms Deal.WEB, 3 April 2005, Judge in Scorpions probe linked to arms deal,www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/2005-04-03-judge-in-scorpions-probe-linked-to-arms-deal/, 2024-02-22, Sunday Times, en-ZA, WEB, 2005-05-02, A dishonourable business,mg.co.za/article/2005-05-02-a-dishonourable-business/, 2024-02-22, The Mail & Guardian, en-ZA, In June 2012, she was the victim of an armed robbery at her family home in Randburg.WEB, 4 June 2012, ConCourt judge tied up in robbery,www.news24.com/news24/judge-khampepes-house-robbed-20120604, 2024-02-22, News24, en-US,

References

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