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JuniorTukkie November 2021
Law
UP Law's OR Tambo Law Library now a treasure trove of remembrance of Emeritus Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke By Elzet Hurter Emeritus (retired) Deputy Chief Justice (EDCJ) Dikgang Moseneke recently donated his private collections of books, artefacts and journals to the Oliver R Tambo Law Library at the University of Pretoria (UP).
‘It is a huge privilege and honour for UP Law and UP that EDCJ Moseneke chose to donate his private collections to the University of Pretoria. It comes with a huge responsibility for us entrusted with his legacy. We need to cherish and protect these books and artefacts and share the information with the UP community. We hope to have gatherings soon with Moseneke after the COVID-19 regulations have been relaxed, as this will be a huge motivation for our students.’ – Professor Elsabe Schoeman, Dean of UP Law
‘UP Law is proud, humbled and inspired by this generous gesture and looks forward to working with EDCJ Moseneke. UP Law and other UP students will benefit greatly from these private collections from Moseneke, uniquely stationed at our university only. We are sure that this unique collection will attract national and international students, faculty and researchers wishing to explore and read what this esteemed scholar, practitioner, judge and justice used in his illustrious career. We plan to solidify our collaborations with Moseneke and look forward to formulating this relationship with him to ensure his legacy lives on for coming generations. We are going to have several initiatives with him in future to learn from this great giant.’
– Professor Charles Maimela, Deputy Dean of UP Law
Emeritus (retired) Deputy Chief Justice (EDCJ) Dikgang Moseneke recently donated his private collections of books, artefacts and journals to the Oliver R Tambo Law Library at the University of Pretoria (UP). The donation includes Justice Moseneke’s Robben Island security file, private annotated law reports, rare photographs and artworks from his personal, political and judicial career, as well as significant awards, scrolls and trophies. This collection will be housed in the Dikgang Moseneke Research Commons to be constructed in the Law Library. ‘In your retirement, you can hardly find an honour greater than people seeking to remember your contributions in your lifetime. This normally happens when
you have passed on, but while I am still alive, UP has given me the tremendous privilege of creating a heritage space containing several unique items connected with my career that will be able to talk to the youth about our long struggles for freedom and change in our country.’ EDJC Moseneke worked towards social justice, African liberation and eradicating inequality in South Africa during his years as a lawyer, which he continued as a Justice. ‘I fought most of my struggles against the apartheid government in Pretoria, and now that there is a university that is undergoing transformation in this city, I am proud to be a part of the process. UP has become a place of values that we have fought for, and those values are being lived,’ he said.
UP Law Deputy Dean Professor Charles Maimela (left) and Head of the Department of Jurisprudence Professor Joel Modiri (centre) received the donation of books and rare artefacts from Emeritus Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke (right). UP Law will be undertaking a project under Professors Maimela and Modiri’s direction to honour and celebrate Moseneke’s giant legal legacy through other strategic and community engagement initiatives.
