Tholie Madala

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Tholie Madala
Justice of the Constitutional Court
In office
October 1994 – October 2008
Appointed byNelson Mandela
Preceded byCourt established
Succeeded byEdwin Cameron
Personal details
Born
Tholakele Hope Madala

(1937-07-13)13 July 1937
Kokstad, Union of South Africa
Died25 August 2010(2010-08-25) (aged 73)
Alma materUniversity of Fort Hare
University of Natal

Tholakele Hope "Tholie" Madala (13 July 1937 – 25 August 2010) was a

Mthatha Supreme Court
in 1994. He retired from the bench in 2008.

Early life and education

Madala was born on 13 July 1937 in

Lovedale Institute in Alice from 1961 to 1962 and then at St Michael's School in Manzini, Swaziland from 1963 to 1971.[2]

Thereafter, in 1972, he enrolled at the

LLB in 1974.[2]

Legal practice

After graduating from the University of Natal, Madala served his

Natal Divisions of the Supreme Court, and he joined the firm of Madikizela, Madala & Mdlulwa the following year.[2] Between 1977 and 1980, he also lectured part-time at the University of Transkei, where he taught private law.[2]

In 1982, he was admitted as an

political detainees and their families.[1][3] In addition, he was active in the Transkei Society of Advocates, serving as its vice-chairperson from 1987 to 1990 and as its chairperson from 1991 to 1993.[1]

On 1 January 1994,

Mthatha High Court (then still a division of the Supreme Court). He was the first black judge in the Eastern Cape and the fourth black judge in South Africa.[4]
He served in the High Court only briefly before being elevated to the appellate court.

Constitutional Court: 1994–2008

In October 1994, President Nelson Mandela appointed Madala as a judge in the newly inaugurated post-apartheid Constitutional Court of South Africa.[1] His appointment, announced in August 1994, was criticised as an example of tokenism by some commentators, who argued that it was only because of affirmative action that Madala had been elevated ahead of such white jurists as John Didcott. In response to this criticism, Dumisa Ntsebeza of the Black Lawyers Association mounted a fiery public defence of Madala.[5][6]

As a member of the inaugural bench under Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson, Madala was tasked with overseeing the design of the justices' robes.[7]

Opinions

In his early years in the court, Madala wrote concurring judgements in the landmark matters of

Bill of Rights
entitled judges' same-sex partners to the same financial benefits available to opposite-sex spouses.

He also wrote the court's majority judgments in S v Rens, East Zulu Motors v Empangeni/Ngwelezane Transitional Local Council, Osman v Attorney-General for the Transvaal, S v Manamela (co-written with Albie Sachs, and Zak Yacoob), S v Niemand, S v Basson (co-written with Laurie Ackermann, Yvonne Mokgoro, Dikgang Moseneke, Sandile Ngcobo, and Kate O'Regan), SABC v National Director of Public Prosecutions (co-written with Pius Langa, Dumile Kondile, Bess Nkabinde, O'Regan, Belinda van Heerden, and Yacoob), NM v Smith, and Nyathi v MEC for Health, Gauteng.

Retirement

Madala retired from the Constitutional Court in October 2008 after 14 years on the bench.[3] Justice Edwin Cameron was appointed to replace him later that year.[9]

Personal life and death

He was married to Patricia Alice Ndileka Madala, who was an advocate of the High Court before leaving practice; they had three children.[1] He was a member of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, serving as its deputy chancellor and as the chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of St John in Mthatha.[1] He was a trustee, until his death, of the Black Lawyers Association's legal education centre.[10][11] In addition, until his appointment to the bench, he was the deputy chairperson of the Transkei National Building Society.[1]

He died on 25 August 2010. Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo called for a moment of silence in his honour during the next day's Constitutional Court sitting,[3] and he was buried in Mthatha.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Justice Tholie Madala". Constitutional Court of South Africa. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Transkei: New Judge" (PDF). Consultus. 7: 61. April 1994.
  3. ^ a b c "Retired ConCourt judge dies". News24. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Tholakele Madala". South African History Online. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  5. ISSN 1743-923X
    .
  6. ISSN 0001-9720
    .
  7. ^ Alcock, Sello S. (13 October 2008). "Judging the class of 1994". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Justice Tholie Madala". Our Constitution. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  9. ^ Bruin, Philip de (27 December 2008). "Edwin Cameron appointed to Constitutional Court". Witness. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Ex-Concourt judge buried". Sowetan. 30 August 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Law Society remembers Madala". News24. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2023.

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