Tribute to Chief Justice Ismail Mahomed

The late Chief Justice Ismail Mahomed was a guide and mentor to many of us who have been drawn to the service of human rights in the new democratic South Africa. As a distinguished human rights lawyer he gave inspiration to many who might have despaired and gave credibility to the legal profession. By his example and professional conduct he inspired hope and confidence in the future of South Africa. 

Chief Justice Mahomed gave encouragement to the members of the Human Rights Commission when it was first established. He recognised, as very few people did at the time, the critical role an independent national institution for the promotion and protection of human rights could play in the development of our nascent democracy. From the beginning he envisaged a critical partnership between the courts, especially the Constitutional Court, and the Commission in ensuring access to justice and in the development of our human rights jurisprudence. Whenever he could he gave support for and participated in the activities of the Commission. The last occasion was the commemoration of Africa Human Rights Day in Pretoria on 21 October 1999. At that meeting, he expressed concern that South Africa had not yet ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. 

Both as Chief Justice and as Deputy President of the Constitutional Court, Justice Mahomed explored to the full extent the meaning and implications of our Bill of Rights. His judgements were erudite and yet contextual. He expressed himself in poetic and oratorical fashion which made his judgements a joy to read. He sought to be meaningful to and address the common South African. Law to him, if it had to be of service to the people of South Africa, had to be meaningful to the ordinary South Africans. It is not without significance that one of his last judgements at the Supreme Court of Appeal was a ringing denunciation of racism. 

He sought to make it his testament as Chief Justice to restore the tattered image and legitimacy of the courts and the judiciary in the eyes of and experience of all South Africans. His own stature and record of struggle within the law would have been enough to lend credibility to an institution that had been tainted by the ghost of apartheid. But for him that was not enough. He strove to guide judges as to their role in a constitutional democracy. His address to the Council of the International Commission of Jurists held in Cape Town in 1997 in this regard was instructive. He encouraged younger black and women lawyers into legal practice because he was concerned that too few black lawyers remained in the profession as legal practitioners and therefore the pool from which prospective judges for the new South Africa could be recruited was very limited. He was never blinded by mere considerations of affirmative action not to insist on lawyers of quality in order to uphold the high standards of South African jurisprudence that South Africans rightly expected of their courts. He was a reformer but never at any price. 

As a lawyer who received so little recognition in his earlier life and so much in the new South Africa, he was most appreciative of the honour bestowed upon him by a Pretoria-based NGO, NIPILAR, of the Duma Nokwe Human Rights Award in December 1998. For him, it was a crowning moment to an illustrious career in the legal profession. He used the occasion to give encouragement to young lawyers and called for the development of our human rights culture. He was very proud to be associated in this manner with the late Advocate Duma Nokwe, a friend, colleague and fellow sufferer in the Johannesburg Bar as pioneering black lawyers. His pride was also due to the fact that an NGO chose to honour him in this way. It reminded him of the role NGOs played in the transformation of our country. 

The South African Human Rights Commission therefore received the news of the untimely death of Chief Justice Mahomed with shock and sadness. The Commission remembers him as a mentor, an inspiration and a dear friend. His example and dedication will continue to inspire us in our work. South Africa has lost a great son and an outstanding human rights jurist. 

N Barney Pityana
CHAIRPERSON 

20 June 2000