Hon Speaker, Your Excellency the President and Your Excellency the Deputy President, it is indeed a great honour and rare privilege for me to take part in this august debate on the occasion of bidding farewell to our former Chief Justice Pius Langa.
The ANC takes this opportunity to thank you most sincerely, and with boundless pride, for a sterling job, priceless work well done.
As a country, we owe you and your two predecessors, former Chief Justice Chaskalson and the late Chief Justice Mahomed, tons of gratitude. Like you, Chief Justice Langa, our late Chief Justice Mahomed stood out as affirmation of the fact that black people, given equal opportunity, are capable of carrying out some of the most difficult and complex tasks with an astonishing degree of success. We take pride in the fact that you have affirmed us as worthy citizens, who can be entrusted with the future of the country without someone's having to spend sleepless nights wondering whether the sun will rise again tomorrow or not. Yours might be a single footprint in a vast desert, but in historic terms it represents a giant leap forward in collective efforts to build our nascent democracy into a formidable and proud member of the community of nations. For this we are deeply indebted to you, sir, and to the galaxy of Constitutional Court justices who have served the country in your hallowed company. These men and women have left an indelible mark on the jurisprudence of a democratic South Africa. We acknowledge the sterling contribution to the nation-building project by the justices you were privileged to captain.
As was to be expected in a transition, there have been extremely uncomfortable moments when it looked like we were heading for a constitutional crisis in our country. At the hour of madness, the political landscape was coloured by a rising tide of uncertainty, principally as a result of fierce contestation within the ruling party, my party, the ANC. In that hour, it must be said, we were wrestling with a festering sore that had to be opened up so that we could move forward. Each birth has its own pains, or to each birth its blood. Happily, those bleak, dark days have passed.
Chief Justice Langa, you steered your ship with tremendous courage and fortitude, as a good judge would do. The verdict is that you leave a judiciary where "the centre is holding" to paraphrase WB Yeats, in spite of the many challenges we still have to overcome. A solid foundation has been laid. The baton is being passed on to our new Chief Justice, Chief Justice Ngcobo. In Sepedi we would call you "Nnobo", because we can't say Ngcobo! Allow me to take this opportunity to join millions of my fellow citizens in conveying our heartfelt congratulations to you, Chief Justice Ngcobo, on your elevation to the highest judicial office in the land.
Our expectations are high. Our hope is even firmer that under your stewardship the judiciary will witness the opening of new and bright horizons and ever-expanding frontiers in the never-ending journey of transformation.
In this regard, the goal must be nothing less than the creation of a people's judiciary, as envisaged in our Constitution. The judiciary must be broadly representative of the community it serves; so instructs our Constitution. This is not a plea which some of us have the latitude either to ignore or implement, depending on the mood of the day. In judicial language, the requirement for the judiciary to be broadly representative is peremptory.
This provision is not in the Constitution by accident; it is there in order to redress the historic exclusion of black people and women from the judiciary in our country. In transforming the judiciary, we must ensure that black people - Africans in particular - and women are appointed to the Bench without hesitation. [Applause.]
Where there are technical deficiencies, it is our collective obligation to expand the training programmes already in place, as well as to introduce new programmes. The position of acting judges may have to be regularised so that deserving candidates are not missed by the system. Another area meriting attention is the exclusion of possible candidates on the basis of language. Our Constitution recognises 11 languages, in case we need reminding.
It is not enough, though, for the judiciary to be broadly representative. We must, in addition to changing the form, perhaps more importantly, ensure a change of mind-set. In this regard, we have to accommodate the moral values and ethos of the majority of South Africans in this country. For example, the "reasonable man" in the law of contracts should not be confined to the "reasonable man" of the London Stock Exchange. This "reasonable man" could also be one who believes in a verbal contract, as they do in Segole, the small village where I come from.
To achieve the envisaged paradigm shift, it is suggested that sitting judicial officers may need to attend courses studying other cultures in order fully to understand the nature of the people they seek to serve. I rest my case. [Applause.]
CHIEF JUSTICE P N LANGA: Hon Speaker, hon Chair of the National Council of Provinces, Your Excellency the President, Your Excellency the Deputy President, hon members, members of the judiciary that I see are present, Chief Justice, leaders of the courts sitting up there, heads of courts, ladies and gentlemen, this is a unique occasion. In my recollection, apart from those occasions when the Chief Justice performs functions prescribed by the Constitution, members of the third arm of the state, the judiciary, in South Africa have never addressed a Joint Sitting of the Houses of Parliament. [Applause.]
Today, the three arms of the state have gathered and participate together, not to fulfil the usual function of checking upon one another and balancing conduct and activities, but rather to acknowledge one another. It is a positive development, because all three are critically important to our democracy. Although they have separate roles, they are complementary and not mutually exclusive.
I thank the President of the Republic of South Africa for requesting this Joint Sitting of the two Houses of Parliament and for his kind words on the occasion of my retirement. My thanks also go to the Speaker of the National Assembly and to the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces for making this occasion possible. I'm also grateful to the representatives of political parties for what they have said and the sentiments they have expressed.
I have worked with some of them in various forums and can testify to the fact that I have always received courteous and willing co-operation, support and respect from them. I mention in particular the Judicial Service Commission, which I have had the privilege of chairing since the year 2005.
Of course, I have encountered others in my previous life as a legal practitioner, and I've seen them go to jail ... [Laughter.] ... and, fortunately, I've also seen them come out of jail ... [Laughter.] ... and become hon members of this House!
I have had a wonderful relationship with all the Ministers of Justice and Constitutional Development. It has been a relationship of mutual respect, courtesy and co-operation. I thank them for their unceasing encouragement and support. The current Minister, Jeff Radebe, has been a tower of strength, always looking for ways and means to make my work and that of all judicial officers not only manageable, but also pleasant.
I have been working in the Constitutional Court. The Deputy Chief Justice, Justice Dikgang Moseneke, together with the other judges of the Constitutional Court, have been veritable towers of strength. They, together with those colleagues who are retiring with me, have given me immense support in my functioning ... [Applause.] ... as Chief Justice of this country. Each one of them has always been exceptionally collegial, helpful and burden-sharing. I could not have asked for a better team to work with.
The foundations were laid during the pioneering days, first by Chief Justice Mick Corbett, then by Chief Justice Ismail Mahomed, and then during the incumbency of my predecessor, Justice Arthur Chaskalson, the former President of the Constitutional Court and later Chief Justice of South Africa. They stood firm, and I'm grateful to all of them, in particular to my predecessor, former Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson - a great South African in his own right - for laying the groundwork ... [Applause.] ... of this great institution.
An important institution of the judiciary is that of the heads of courts, that is, the President of the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Deputy President of the SCA, as well as all the Judges President and their deputies in all the divisions and special courts. We have worked well, and I thank them.
I would like to pay tribute to them for their industry, co-operation and support; to pay tribute to the entire magistracy, which is actually at the cutting edge of the legal system in South Africa; and to pay tribute to the legal profession and everyone else who has touched my life and my work in the administration of justice. I thank them all and would like each one of them to know how appreciative I am of the cordiality of our relationship.
Of course, I thank my family as well, who have given me the inspiration to trudge along these few years, first as a judge of the Constitutional Court, and lately as Chief Justice of this country. Without the inspiration and support they gave me, I would not have been able to do anything or to last the distance. [Applause.]
Let me extend my thanks to the people of South Africa for having afforded me the opportunity to serve as a judge of the Constitutional Court from October 1994 to October 2009. It is a period of 15 years, a momentous period in my life and that of my family. I have been richly rewarded through all these years. It is not possible to tabulate and rank all of these rewards, but it is safe to mention that they include the following: seeing my country and my nation emerge victorious from the bondage of apartheid ... [Applause.] ... to be counted among the free nations of the world; the setting up of democratic structures, namely Parliament, the courts, Chapter 9 Institutions and other institutions; and the fact that in spite of numerous challenges, these institutions have not only survived, but are functioning. I also add the vibrancy of organs of civil society, and so on.
I have enjoyed the comradeship of many of my fellow South Africans and members of the international community who believe, as I do, that the responsibilities that cleave to the very essence of the soul of this nation are, as the Preamble to the Constitution states, to:
Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights; Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law;
Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and
Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.
I have subscribed, and will continue to proudly and assiduously subscribe, to these ideals. I will also uphold the foundational values of equality and human dignity, and the advancement of human rights and freedoms, nonracialism, nonsexism and the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law.
As I leave centre stage as Chief Justice of South Africa and look for other work ... [Laughter.] I mentioned that this is a position I've been immensely honoured and privileged to serve in. I'm acutely aware that the work I've tried to do on the Bench, together with my colleagues, is far from done. There is a long way to go - still. As long as poverty, homelessness, disease and illiteracy ravage our people and are still features of the lives of many who exist side by side with those who are privileged and who have everything before them, our job - yours and mine - will not have been accomplished.
In conclusion, I take this opportunity to congratulate my colleague, Justice Sandile Ngcobo, the new Chief Justice of South Africa, on his appointment to this position. I have no doubt that he will receive all the necessary support and co-operation to carry out the onerous responsibilities entrusted to him, in particular in presiding over the Constitutional Court and in leading the entire judiciary of this country. It is still very much a time of transition, requiring the gifts of wisdom, diligence and diplomacy. I have no doubt that he will prove equal to the challenges that lie ahead. I wish him all the best. I thank you. [Applause.]