PERSONALITY PROFILE

Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo

In conversation with Raymond Zondo, Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa and presiding judge for South Africa’s Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.

Without the kindness of strangers and the assistance of bursaries, I would never have gone past primary school.

-Judge Raymond Zondo during his interview for the position of Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa

Early years

The third of nine children, Raymond Mnyamezeli Mlungisi “Ray” Zondo was born in rural Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal on 4 May 1960. His family was not financially well off: his father worked as a labourer and his mother as a nurse’s aide before she turned to knitting jerseys for a living. But this didn’t stop the ambitious, resilient and proactive youngster from pursuing a legal career. With hard work, bursaries and the help of someone who believed in him, he not only matriculated from St Mary’s Seminary but went on to attend the Universities of Zululand and Natal, where he completed his LLB and B.Iuris and then his LLM (cum laude) in labour law, LLM with specialisation in commercial law and LLM in patent law through the University of South Africa (UNISA).

He began serving his articles of clerkship under anti-apartheid activist Victoria Mxenge in her Durban-based law firm, but when she was murdered 1 he moved to Mthembu and Partners and then Chennels Alberton Attorneys.

Following his admission as an attorney in 1989, he became a partner in Durbanbased law firm Mathe and Zondo Incorporated. In 1991 and 1992 he served on two committees of the Commission of Inquiry Regarding the Prevention of Public Violence and Intimidation, otherwise known as the Goldstone Commission.

In 1994 Zondo was appointed to the Ministerial Task Team assigned to produce a draft Labour Relations Bill for post-apartheid South Africa. Two years later, he became the first chairperson of the Governing Body of the Commission for the Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

He resigned from this position when he was appointed as acting judge and then permanent judge in the Labour Court in 1997. In 2000 he was elected Judge President of the Labaour Court, and then in 2011 Acting Judge of the Constitutional Court. He was permanently appointed in late 2012, serving on various ad hoc committees as well.

On 1 June 2017 Raymond Zondo was appointed Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa.

Commission of Inquiry into State Capture

Shortly after taking office in 2018, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa approved the establishment of a commission of inquiry into allegations of state corruption, following which he appointed Zondo to the position of presiding judge of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. Initially expected to last for two years, hearings began on 20 August 2018. Zondo has, since then, twice requested and been granted extensions. The final one as per a High Court Ruling on 31 March 2021, according to Sunday World 2 . Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, in his presentation of the country’s 2020 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in Parliament, allocated an additional R63 million to the Commission from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development “to finalise investigations and produce a close-out report.”

Paying it forward

In his interview for the position of Deputy-Chief Justice, as reported by Judges Matter’s website 3 , Zondo said a local businessman had agreed to support his mother and siblings with groceries while he attended university. The loan was to be paid back once he had obtained his degree. However, when he went back to negotiate the repayment terms after graduating, the man said: “No, don’t worry, just do to others what I have done to you”. I thought that was very important and in my own small way I have tried to do that.

Zondo and his wife Thembekile visited his old school in February 2020 where they joined the South African Muslim Charitable Trust (SAMCT) in partnership with the Zondo and Bux Educational Trust and donated R1.5 million towards a borehole and infrastructure, according to an article published on iol.co.za 4 .

The South African Muslim Charitable Trust 5 provides more information on the act of kindness that allowed Raymond Zondo to pursue his dream: When the Deputy Chief Justice of the country, Judge Zondo, matriculated, he knew that he was going to obtain a bursary to study law. But he was in a dilemma – if he went on to university, there would be no one to take care of the needs of his mother and siblings. He went to see Mr Suleman Bux, owner of Kwa Moosa Wholesalers, in the town of Ixopo. He explained his situation to him and asked for assistance. Without batting an eyelid, nor setting anything down on paper, Mr Bux gave him a voucher for his mother to collect groceries from his shop on a monthly basis for the three years during which he was going to be at university. When the now Judge Zondo obtained his law degree, he went back to Mr Bux to ask him how he could repay him. Mr Bux told him not to repay him and said, “Just do for others what I have done for you,” or words to that effect. This story went viral after Judge Zondo recounted it at his interview for the post of Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa.

In October 2017, the Women’s Cultural Group, in association with Albaraka Bank, hosted a dinner to get the Zondo and Bux families together. At that dinner, it was mooted that a bursary fund be set up to assist historically disadvantaged pupils who might be in the same boat in which Judge Zondo found himself so many years ago. At that dinner over R250 000 was raised and led to the formation of The Zondo and Bux Educational Trust. Through this Trust, Judge Zondo is able to do for others what Mr Bux had done for him. And Mr Bux continues with his philanthropic work.

“Without that kindness of strangers and the assistance of bursaries, I would never have gone past primary school,” Zondo says.

South Africa’s second most powerful judge deserves a good break before he resumes work in the New Year, which could see former President Jacob Zuma finally appear before the Commission. According to SABC News 6 , the commission’s legal team has issued two summonses for Zuma to appear between 18 and 22 January 2021 as well as between 15 and 19 February. This follows on the Commission’s urgent application to the Constitutional Court for an order declaring Zuma’s walk-out of proceedings on 19 November as unlawful and to compel him to appear before the Commission.

1. More about Victoria Mxenge here: https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/victorianonyamezelo-mxenge

2. https://sundayworld.co.za/news/zondocommission-given-an-extra-r63-million/ 3. https://www.judgesmatter.co.za/interviews/ april-2017-interviews/jsc-candidates/ judge-raymond-zondo

4. https://www.iol.co.za/sunday-tribune/news/ deputy-chief-justice-raymond-zondodonates-r15m-to-former-school-42450489

5. http://www.samct.co.za/establishment-ofthe-zondo-bux-educational-trust

6. https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/ new-set-of-dates-allocated-for-zumasappearance-before-state-capturecommission