Special session for her today

Constitutional Court Justice Bess Nkabinde is retiring at the end of the year‚ the court announced yesterday. Nkabinde served 11 years as a judge in the highest court in the land.

She was appointed in 2006, and when then deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke retired in 2016‚ she was appointed acting deputy chief justice.

Nkabinde was the first woman to hold this position. She and fellow Justice Chris Jafta alleged in 2008 that Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe tried to influence their ruling in a corruption case involving President Jacob Zuma and French arms company Thint in the arms deal.

A complaint was lodged but in the same year the two said they would not proceed with the matter. After that Nkabinde and Jafta were part of a cocomplaint lodged by all ConCourt judges.

In 2013‚ a Judicial Service Commission tribunal into Hlophe’s conduct was established‚ but the two justices questioned its lawfulness.

The two turned to the courts but lost in the high court and the Supreme Court of Appeal. Still aggrieved‚ they turned to their own court and applied to appeal.

Their colleagues at the ConCourt, however‚ turned them away‚ saying too many of its justices had a conflict of interest‚ and a quorate court could not be established. Nkabinde was admitted as an advocate in 1988, and after a pupillage in 1989, joined the North West Bar in 1990. She became Labour Court acting judge in 2000 and 2003. A formal court session would be held in her honour today. –