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{{Short description|South African judge (born 1949)}}
{{Infobox Officeholder
 
|honorific-prefix = The Honourable
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
|name = Lex Mpati
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-suffix =
|birth_name name = Lex Mpati
|image honorific-suffix =
| birth_name =
|office = [[Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa|President of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa]]
| image =
|term_start = 15 August 2008
| office = [[Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa|President of the Supreme Court of Appeal]]
|term_end = October 2016
| term_start = 15 August 2008
|predecessor = Craig Howie
|successor term_end = [[MandisaMay Maya]]2016
| predecessor = [[Craig Howie]]
|deputy = Kenneth Mthiyane<br>[[Mahomed Navsa]] {{small|(Acting)}}<br>Mandisa Maya
| successor = [[Mandisa Maya]]
|office1 = [[Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa|Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa]]
| deputy = [[Louis Harms (judge)|Louis Harms]]<br />[[Kenneth Mthiyane]]<br />[[Mahomed Navsa]] ''{{small|(acting)}}''<br />[[Mandisa Maya]]
|term_start1 = 1 January 2003
| office1 = [[Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa|Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal]]
|term_end1 = 14 August 2008
| term_start1 = 1 January 2003
|predecessor1 = ''Office created''
| term_end1 = 14 August 2008
|successor1 = [[Louis Harms (judge)|Louis Harms]]
| predecessor1 = ''Office created''
|office2 = Judge of the [[Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa|Supreme Court of Appeal]]
| successor1 = Louis Harms
|term_start2 = 9 December 2000
| office2 = [[Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa|Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal]]
|term_end2 = 31 December 2002
| term_start2 = 9 December 2000
|predecessor2 =
| term_end2 = May 2016
|successor2 =
| predecessor2 =
|office3 = Judge of the Eastern Cape Division of the Supreme Court
| successor2 =
|term_start3 = 1 February 1997
| office3 = [[High Court of South Africa|Judge of the High Court]]
|term_end3 = 8 December 2000
| term_start3 = 1 February 1997
|office4 = Chancellor of [[Rhodes University]]
| term_end3 = 8 December 2000
|term_start4 = 22 February 2013
| office4 = Chancellor of [[Rhodes University]]
|term_end4 =
| term_start4 = 4 April 2013
|predecessor4 = [[Jakes Gerwel]]
|successor4 term_end4 =
| predecessor4 = [[Jakes Gerwel]]
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1949|09|05}}
| successor4 =
|birth_place = [[Durban]], [[South Africa]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1949|09|05}}
|citizenship = South African
| birth_place = [[Durban]], [[Natal Province]],<br />[[Union of South Africa]]
|spouse = Mireille Mpati (née Nontobeko)
|children spouse = Mireille Nontobeko
| children =
|alma_mater = [[Rhodes University]]<br />[[Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University]]
| alma_mater = [[Rhodes University]]
|religion =
|signature religion =
| signature =
| president1 = Craig Howie
| appointer = [[Thabo Mbeki]]
| appointer1 = Thabo Mbeki
| appointer2 = Thabo Mbeki
| 1blankname3 = Division
| 1namedata3 = [[Eastern Cape Division|Eastern Cape]]
| appointer3 = [[Nelson Mandela]]
}}
 
'''Lex Mpati''' (born 5 September 1949) is a South African retired [[judge]] who was the President of the [[Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa]] from August 2008 to May 2016. He was appointed to the bench in February 1997 as a judge of the [[Eastern Cape Division]] and he joined the Supreme Court as a puisne judge in December 2000. Before his elevation to the presidency, he was the Supreme Court's first Deputy President from 2003 to 2008. He was also an acting judge in the [[Constitutional Court of South Africa|Constitutional Court]] in 2007.
'''Lex Mpati''' [[Senior counsel|SC]] (born 5 September 1949) is a South African judge, Chancellor of [[Rhodes University]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=http://www.ru.ac.za/vice-chancellor/chancellor/news/justicempatitobeinstalledasthenewchancelloratrhodes.html|title=Justice Mpati to be installed as the new Chancellor at Rhodes|last=University|first=Rhodes|access-date=2018-01-11|language=en}}</ref> and former President of the [[Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.justice.gov.za/sca/judges_cv.html|title=SCA Judges' CV|website=www.justice.gov.za|access-date=2018-01-11}}</ref>
 
Born in [[Durban]], Mpati grew up in the [[Eastern Cape]], spending his childhood in [[Fort Beaufort]] and his adolescence in [[Grahamstown]]. He entered legal practice as an attorney in 1985 and was admitted as an advocate in 1989. In 1996, during a three-year stint at the [[Legal Resources Centre]], he was appointed as [[Senior counsel|Senior Counsel]]. Since 2013, he has been the chancellor of [[Rhodes University]], his alma mater.
==Early life and education==
Mpati has deep roots in [[Grahamstown]] and the province as a whole. He was born in [[Durban]] in 1949 but his schooling was in the [[Eastern Cape]], first at St Joseph's Catholic School at [[Fort Beaufort]] and then at Mary Waters High School in Grahamstown, from where he matriculated in 1967.
 
== Early life and education ==
Mpati enrolled at Rhodes in 1979, under a special permit (required by black students), and graduated in 1982 with a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] degree in legal theory and Xhosa. He graduated with a [[LLB]] degree in 1984.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|date=1997|title= High Court: New Judges|url=https://www.gcbsa.co.za/law-journals/1997/may/1997-may-vol010-no1-pp21-22.pdf|journal= Consultus|volume=10|issue=1|pages=22|via= General Council of the Bar of South Africa}}</ref> He was only the second black student to graduate with an LLB from Rhodes.
Mpati was born on 5 September 1949 in [[Durban]] in the former [[Natal (province)|Natal Province]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |date= |title=Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal |url=https://www.justice.gov.za/sca/judges_cv.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110052124/https://www.justice.gov.za/sca/judges_cv.html |archive-date=2017-01-10 |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa}}</ref> However, during his infancy, his family moved to a farm in [[Fort Beaufort]] in the [[Eastern Cape]], the hometown of his maternal grandparents.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Dugmore |first=Heather |date=17 March 2013 |title=Mpati: Thorny road to top |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/mpati-thorny-road-to-top-20150429 |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref> He attended primary school at St Joseph’s Catholic School in Fort Beaufort, walking five kilometres to school daily and herding cattle in the morning and evenings.<ref name=":0" /> Thereafter he was sent to [[Grahamstown]], where, living in [[Fingo Village]],<ref name=":0" /> he matriculated at Mary Waters High School in 1967.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |date=1997 |title=High Court: New Judges |url=https://www.gcbsa.co.za/law-journals/1997/may/1997-may-vol010-no1-pp21-22.pdf |journal=Consultus |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=22 |via=General Council of the Bar of South Africa}}</ref>
 
Mpati's first job out of high school was as a petrol attendant at Albany Auto Services, a petrol station on Beaufort Street in Grahamstown, where he worked until 1970.<ref name=":0" /> During his first year, in December 1968, he was arrested for illegally operating as a taxi driver, having borrowed his grandfather's car to make extra money transporting visitors from the local train station; he successfully defended himself in court, an experience that sparked his interest in law. During the same period, he regularly sat in on hearings in the [[Magistrate's court (South Africa)|magistrate's court]] during his time off work.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Watt-Pringle |first=Craig |date=2019 |title=Tribute to Justice Lex Mpati |url=https://gcbsa.co.za/law-journals/2019/december/2019-december-vol032-no3-pp08-09.pdf |journal=Advocate |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=8–9 |via=General Council of the Bar of South Africa}}</ref>
==Career==
Lex Mpati started his legal career in 1985 and was admitted as an [[Advocate]] in 1989. He became a member of the Eastern Cape [[Bar (law)|Bar]] in 1989 and was appointed as [[senior counsel]] in April 1996.<ref name=":1" /> He served as a [[Judge]] in the [[Eastern Cape]] [[High Courts of South Africa|High Court]] from 1997–2000. He was appointed as a [[Judge of Appeal]], first in an [[acting capacity]] and in December 2000 as a full member of the [[Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa|Supreme Court of Appeal]]. He ascended to Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2003, and to President in August 2008. He is also a member of the [[Judiciary of South Africa#Judicial Service Commission|Judicial Service Commission]].<ref name=":0" />
 
Over the next decade, Mpati worked as a furniture salesman and as a bartender at the Settler's Inn Motel.<ref name=":0" /> He enrolled at [[Rhodes University]] in 1979, aged 30,<ref name=":0" /> and he completed a BA in law and [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]] in 1981 and an LLB in 1983.<ref name=":02" /> He attended Rhodes under a special permit required by black students under [[apartheid]], and he was the second [[Black South African|black]] student to complete an LLB at the university.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-02-25 |title=Rhodes chancellor ‘will inspire’ humility |url=https://www.ru.ac.za/graduationgateway/chancellor/articles/rhodeschancellorwillinspirehumility.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIt%20is%20a%20great%20pleasure,vice-chancellor%20Dr%20Saleem%20Badat. |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Rhodes University |language=en-US}}</ref>
He attended Rhodes University as a student between 1979 and 1982, and subsequently returned to his alma mater as [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] in February 2013.<ref name=":2" />
 
==Other interestsLegal career ==
Mpati had begun clerking for a law firm in Grahamstown during his final year of law school, and he stayed with the firm after graduation to complete his [[articles of clerkship]].<ref name=":0" /> After he was admitted as an [[Attorneys in South Africa|attorney]] in February 1985,<ref name=":02" /> he remained in Grahamstown, working primarily on [[South African criminal law|criminal]] cases.<ref name=":0" />
Mpati is known to have been a keen [[rugby union|rugby]] player and was a founding member of the South Eastern Districts Rugby Union. He has also served on committees of the [[South African Rugby Union]] and on the legal committee of [[SANZAR]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|date=2019|title=Tribute to Justice Lex Mpati|url= https://gcbsa.co.za/law-journals/2019/december/2019-december-vol032-no3-pp08-09.pdf|journal= Advocate|volume=32|issue=3|pages=8–9|via= General Council of the Bar of South Africa}}</ref>
 
In February 1989, Mpati was admitted to the Grahamstown Bar as an [[Advocates in South Africa|advocate]].<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":3" /> He worked in his own chambers until March 1993,<ref name=":02" /> when he took up the post of in-house counsel at the Grahamstown office of the [[Legal Resources Centre]], a prominent [[human rights law]] organisation.<ref name=":0" /> He [[Senior counsel|took silk]] in April 1996 and shortly afterwards left the Legal Resources Centre to accept appointment as an acting judge in the [[Supreme Court of South Africa]] (soon to become the [[High Court of South Africa|High Court]]).<ref name=":1" />
==Honours and awards==
 
Mpati was awarded an honorary [[LLD]] from Rhodes University in 2004 and in 2011 the [[Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University]] also conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws degree on him.<ref name=":3" />
== Eastern Cape Division: 1997–2000 ==
On 1 February 1997, Mpati joined the bench permanently as a judge of the [[Eastern Cape Division]].<ref name=":1" /> His tenure in the High Court was brief: he was appointed as an acting judge in the [[Supreme Court of Appeal (South Africa)|Supreme Court of Appeal]] on 1 June 1999, and he remained in the appellate court until he was elevated permanently the following year.<ref name=":02" />
 
== Supreme Court of Appeal: 2000–2016 ==
In October 2000, Mpati was among the candidates whom the [[Judicial Service Commission (South Africa)|Judicial Service Commission]] shortlisted and interviewed for possible appointment to four judicial vacancies on the Supreme Court bench.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2000-08-11 |title=Chance to turbo-charge reform |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2000-08-11-chance-to-turbo-charge-reform/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Still acting as an appellate judge at that time, he was considered a frontrunner.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2000-10-27 |title=In judgement of the judges |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2000-10-27-in-judgement-of-the-judges/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
 
After its hearings, the Judicial Service Commission recommended Mpati and three others ([[Edwin Cameron]], [[Ian Farlam]], and [[Mahomed Navsa]]) for appointment, and their appointments were confirmed by President [[Thabo Mbeki]] at the end of the month.<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 October 2000 |title=Mbeki approves appointment of judges |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/200010310043.html |access-date=21 January 2024 |work=WOZA}}</ref> Mpati became the first black judge to sit permanently in the Supreme Court.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=7 November 2002 |title=Appeal court president named |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/appeal-court-president-named-20021106 |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref>
 
=== Deputy presidency and presidency ===
In November 2002, President Mbeki appointed Mpati as [[Supreme Court of Appeal (South Africa)#List of deputy presidents of the Supreme Court of Appeal|Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal]]; he deputised Judge President [[Craig Howie]], who was appointed at the same time.<ref name=":4" /> He took office on 1 January 2003.<ref name=":02" /> He was considered a likely candidate to assume the presidency upon Howie's retirement,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-01-27 |title=Great strides have been made in judicial transformation |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2003-01-27-great-strides-have-been-made-in-judicial-transformation/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> and, indeed, he succeeded Howie on 15 August 2008.<ref name=":02" />
 
As Supreme Court President, Mpati was a member of the Judicial Service Commission. In that capacity, he chaired a high-profile 2009 disciplinary inquiry into the conduct of [[Western Cape Division|Western Cape]] Judge President [[John Hlophe]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-03-28 |title=Hlophe in the hot seat (again) |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2009-03-28-hlophe-in-the-hot-seat-again/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
 
=== Constitutional Court ===
Mpati was an acting judge in the [[Constitutional Court of South Africa]] from 1 June to 30 November 2007.<ref name=":02" /> In 2011, as [[Sandile Ngcobo]] approached retirement, he was regarded as a possible candidate for appointment as [[Chief Justice of South Africa]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-08-05 |title=The ConCourt contenders |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2011-08-05-the-concourt-contenders/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-08-12 |title=Ncgobo’s last judgment |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2011-08-12-ncgobos-last-judgment/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=7 August 2011 |title=Moseneke left out in the cold again |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2011-08-07-moseneke-left-out-in-the-cold-again/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}}</ref> but [[Mogoeng Mogoeng]] was ultimately nominated instead.
 
== Retirement ==
Mpati retired from the judiciary in May 2016,<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 May 2016 |title=Statement on the Cabinet meeting of 25 May 2016 |url=https://www.gcis.gov.za/newsroom/media-releases/statement-cabinet-meeting-25-may-2016 |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Government Communication and Information System}}</ref> and [[Mandisa Maya]] succeeded him as Supreme Court President shortly thereafter.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Jenni |date=6 March 2017 |title=Judge Maya makes SCA history... again |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/judge-maya-makes-sca-history-again-20170306 |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref>
 
In October 2018, President [[Cyril Ramaphosa]] appointed Mpati as the chairperson of a commission of inquiry into allegations of impropriety regarding the [[Public Investment Corporation]] (best known as the PIC Commission).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-10-18 |title=Ramaphosa appoints commission of inquiry into alleged PIC ‘improprieties’ |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2018-10-18-ramaphosa-appoints-commission-of-inquiry-into-alleged-pic-improprieties/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> He led a three-member panel which also included [[Gill Marcus]] and Emmanuel Lediga and which opened its hearings in January 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-01-21 |title=PIC inquiry gets underway with nuts and bolts of investment decisions |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2019-01-21-pic-inquiry-gets-underway-with-nuts-and-bolts-of-investment-decisions/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
 
In November 2022, he was appointed to lead an independent investigation into alleged misgovernance at the [[University of Cape Town]] during the tenure of vice-chancellor [[Mamokgethi Phakeng]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Basson |first=Adriaan |date=11 November 2022 |title=UCT's troubles are worrying, says retired judge Lex Mpati |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/exclusive-ucts-troubles-are-worrying-says-retired-judge-lex-mpati-20221111 |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref>
 
== Honours and awards ==
Mpati holds two honorary [[LLD]]s, one awarded by Rhodes University in 2004 and the other awarded by [[Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University]] in 2011.<ref name=":3" /> He was professor extraordinary at the [[University of the Free State]] from 2004 to 2008.<ref name=":02" /> In April 2013,<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |title=Justice Mpati to be installed as the new Chancellor at Rhodes |url=http://www.ru.ac.za/vice-chancellor/chancellor/news/justicempatitobeinstalledasthenewchancelloratrhodes.html |access-date=2018-01-11 |work=Rhodes University |language=en}}</ref> he was inaugurated as the chancellor of his alma mater, succeeding [[Jakes Gerwel]], who had died in late 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 October 2013 |title=Judge to lead university |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2013-02-25-judge-to-lead-university/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
 
== Personal life ==
In 1973 in Grahamstown, Mpati met and married Mireille Nontobeko, who trained as a teacher and later as a nurse.<ref name=":0" /> They have four children, two of whom became lawyers.<ref name=":3" />
 
A keen [[Rugby union|rugby]] player, he was a founding member of the South Eastern Districts Rugby Union and played at [[Centre (Rugby Union)|centre]] for the union.<ref name=":1" /> He served on committees of the [[South African Rugby Union]] and [[South African Rugby Football Union]], as well as on the legal committee of [[SANZAR]].<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=12 April 2015 |title=SARU boss takes aim at SANZAR |url=https://rugby365.com/tournaments/super-rugby/news-super-rugby/saru-boss-takes-aim-at-sanzar/ |access-date=2021-03-03 |website=Rugby365 |language=en}}</ref>
 
Asked in 2009 about his race, Mpati joked that he was "''<nowiki/>'n tussen''" ([[Afrikaans]] for "an in-between"), explaining, "I grew up in that circumstance when I'm amongst [[Coloureds|coloured]] people, they would say I am an African, and when I’m in an African group, they’ll say you’re a coloured."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-03-31 |title=A solid list of candidates line up for a ConCourt vacancy |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2017-03-31-00-a-solid-list-of-candidates-line-up-for-a-concourt-vacancy/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref>
 
==References==
{{Reflist}}
 
== External links ==
{{Rhodes University}}
 
* [https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/lex-mpati Lex Mpati] at [[South African History Online]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mpati, Lex}}
* [https://www.gov.za/speeches/farewell-function-president-supreme-court-appeal-20-aug-2016-0000 Retirement tribute] by Justice Minister [[Michael Masutha]] (20 August 2016)
* [https://www.justice.gov.za/commissions/pic/index.html PIC Commission] website
{{Rhodes University}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Mpati, Lex}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Durban]]
[[Category:Rhodes University alumni]]
[[Category:SouthJudges Africanof judgesthe Eastern Cape High Court]]
[[Category:Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal (South Africa)]]
 
{{Authority control}}
 
[[Category:South African Senior Counsel]]
{{SouthAfrica-law-bio-stub}}
[[Category:20th-century South African judges]]
{{academic-administrator-stub}}
[[Category:21st-century South African judges]]
[[Category:20th-century South African lawyers]]
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