Raymond Zondo's 'tainted' legacy draws to a sharp close

Colleagues, friends and high profile public figures have heaped praises on outgoing Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, who is set to hang up his robes after 27 years in the judiciary.

Zondo was honoured this week with a farewell dinner and a special sitting of the Constitutional Court where speakers extolled his virtues and his contributions to the judiciary.

South Africa's first woman judge and Zondo's replacement as Chief Justice, Judge Mandisa Maya commended him for contributing to the recognition of, and supporting, women on the bench.

"Thank you for supporting women in the judiciary and for ensuring that they too, get a chance at the driver's seat of the institution.

"In your short two years as Chief Justice, an institution that managed to have only one woman appointed as a judge president in 27 years, suddenly gained two woman judge presidents, more women deputy judges, a woman deputy chief Justice, and now in two weeks, a woman Chief Justice," said Maya.
Zondo was appointed Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2022, in spite of a poor showing in the Judicial Services Commission interviews and recommendations by the panel saying Maya should succeed Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.

Speaking to Independent Media, political analyst, Thobani Zikalala said many will remember Zondo as a stalwart in the labour law space where he made his name as a trailblazer, but his legacy will be tainted by some of his recent work as chairperson of the state capture commission, and some of his judgements as Chief Justice.

"In the labour law space, Zondo is a trailblazer in terms of what he has done in this space but in as far as his judicial political complex, there are a lot of question marks. For that, you must look at how he conducted the state capture commission. Up to today, there have been no successes in terms of prosecutions. There was no reliability of the evidence because he did not force people to bring concrete evidence but relied on stories and narratives," Zikalala said.

In 2012, Zondo was appointed Justice of the Constitutional Court for a period of 12 years. In June 2017, he was appointed as Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa.

In January 2018 he was appointed as the Chairperson of the State Capture Commission, also known as the Zondo Commission. With effect from April 1, 2022, he was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Republic.

For the past two-and- half years he has led the Judiciary of this country with great success. His term of office comes to an end on August 31, 2024.

The DA hailed Zondo's "exemplary work". DA-MP Glynnis Breytenbach said that under his leadership, key programmes were implemented to successfully transform the judiciary to ensure full representativity.

"The exemplary work the Chief Justice did as the chairperson of this commission will have a lasting impact in restoring the dignity of our country. Not only has he done effective work in management of the judiciary, but he has also contributed substantially to the development of jurisprudence in South Africa," Breytenbach said.

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Thembi Simelane, hailed Zondo for his wisdom, principles and integrity.

"History will record that Chief Justice Zondo fulfilled his assigned responsibility with wisdom and diligence. But more than that. History will record that Chief Justice Zondo established a standard for probity in public affairs that will serve our country for many years to come," Simelane said.