TEN FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT JUSTICE RAYMOND ZONDO

• He was born on 4 May 1960 in Emazabekweni village, outside Ixopo.

• He attended Emazabekweni Primary School. Because of his sharp intellect and grasp of school subjects, he was sent to St Mary’s Seminary, where he completed his matric.

• He enrolled at the University of Zululand to study law, and went on to the University of Natal, where he completed his LLB. He was admitted as an attorney in 1989 and practised as a partner in Mathe & Zondo Inc. Justice Zondo received a Master of Laws (LLM) in commercial law, an LLM in labour law and an LLM in patent law at the University of South Africa.

• He is married to Thembekile Zondo and they have four children.

• Former president Nelson Mandela appointed him as the acting judge of the Labour Court with effect from 1 February 1997. In November 1997, Mandela appointed Zondo as a judge of the Labour Court.

• In April/May 1999, he was appointed as a judge of the then Transvaal Provincial Division of the High Court (now the North Gauteng Division of the High Court) in Pretoria.

• In March 2011, Zondo was honoured by the KZN Legal Forum with an award for his contribution to human rights in South Africa.

• On 1 June 2017, Zondo was appointed as Deputy Chief Justice by former president Jacob Zuma. He succeeded Justice Dikgang Moseneke, whose term of office had expired.

• Zondo was nominated by former Chief Justice Moegeng Moegeng to chair the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.

• In 2021, Zondo, as the chair of the State Capture Commission, took Zuma to the Constitutional Court after the former president refused to appear before the commission. The court sentenced Zuma to 15 months in jail for contempt of court.

• On 10 March 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Zondo as the new Chief Justice. He will assume this position on 1 April • 2022.