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{{Short description|South African judge (born 1949)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Lex Mpati
|
|
|
| office = [[Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa|President of the Supreme Court of Appeal]]
| term_start = 15 August 2008
|
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| successor = [[Mandisa Maya]]
| deputy = [[Louis Harms (judge)|Louis Harms]]<br />[[Kenneth Mthiyane]]<br />[[Mahomed Navsa]] ''{{small|(acting)}}''<br />[[Mandisa Maya]]
| office1 = [[Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa|Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal]]
| term_start1 = 1 January 2003
|
|
| successor1 = Louis Harms
| office2 = [[Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa|Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal]]
|
| term_end2 = May 2016
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| office3 = [[High Court of South Africa|Judge of the High Court]]
| term_start3 = 1 February 1997
| term_end3 = 8 December 2000
| office4 = Chancellor of [[Rhodes University]]
| term_start4 = 4 April 2013
| term_end4 =
| predecessor4 = [[Jakes Gerwel]]
| successor4 =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1949|09|05}}
| birth_place = [[Durban]], [[Natal Province]],<br />[[Union of South Africa]]
| spouse = Mireille Nontobeko
| children =
| alma_mater = [[Rhodes University]]
| 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 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 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>
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>
== Legal 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" />
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" />
== 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 ==
* [https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/lex-mpati Lex Mpati] at [[South African History Online]]
* [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:Judges of the Eastern Cape High Court]]
[[Category:Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal (South Africa)]]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:South African Senior Counsel]]
[[Category:20th-century South African judges]]
[[Category:21st-century South African judges]]
[[Category:20th-century South African lawyers]]
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