The Honourable Mogoeng Mogoeng |
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Chief Justice of South Africa | |
Assumed office 8 September 2011 |
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Appointed by | President Jacob Zuma |
Deputy | Dikgang Moseneke |
Preceded by | Sandile Ngcobo |
Justice of the Constitutional Court | |
Assumed office October 2009 |
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Appointed by | President Jacob Zuma |
Judge President of the North West High Court | |
In office October 2002 – October 2009 |
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Judge of the North West High Court | |
In office June 1997 – October 2009 |
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Appointed by | President Nelson Mandela |
Personal details | |
Born |
Zeerust, South Africa |
14 January 1961
Nationality | South African |
Spouse(s) | Mmaphefo Mogoeng |
Children | 3 |
Alma mater |
University of Zululand University of Natal University of South Africa |
Religion | Christian Pentecostal |
Mogoeng Thomas Reetsang Mogoeng (born 14 January 1961) is the current Chief Justice of South Africa, in office since 8 September 2011.
Mogoeng was born on 14 January 1961 in Goo-Mokgatha (Koffiekraal) village near Zeerust in the North West Province. His father was a miner and his mother a domestic worker. Mogoeng became politically active at high school, from which he was briefly suspended for organising a memorial to the victims of the Soweto uprising.
Mogoeng received a B.Juris in 1983 from the University of Zululand and a Bachelor of Laws in 1985 from the University of Natal. There he had been active in the Azanian Students' Movement during a time of grave repression by the SADF. From 1985 he worked for the government of Bophuthatswana as a High Court prosecutor in Mahikeng; though working for a bantustan was stigmatised, Mogoeng was obliged to do so for five years to repay his government bursary. He obtained a Master of Laws by correspondence from the University of South Africa in 1989.
Mogoeng left Bophuthatswana's civil service the following year to begin practice as an advocate. After a short period at the Johannesburg Bar, Mogoeng returned to Mahikeng, where he practiced for six years. He was the chair of Lawyers for Human Rights' Bophuthatswana chapter and a part-time lecturer at the University of Bophuthatswana (now North-West University).