Sandile Ngcobo born 1 March 1953, is former justice in the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He is an Attorney, Judge He served as Chief Justice from 2009 to 2011.
Ngcobo was the beneficiary of a scholarship from Barclays Bank between 1973 and 1976. In 1975 Ngcobo graduated from the University of Zululand with a B Proc (Bachelor of Law), earning distinctions in constitutional law, mercantile law and accounting and was admitted as an attorney in 1981.
in 1985 he received a Fulbright scholarship and he holds an LLM degree from Harvard Law School. He was appointed to the Constitutional Court in 1999 by Nelson Mandela. Prior to this he was a judge in the Cape High Court and the Labor Appeal Court.
On 6 August 2009, President Jacob Zuma nominated Ngcobo to succeed Pius Langa as Chief Justice of South Africa in October 2009.
Legal Experience
- Admitted as an attorney in 1981
- Law Clerk to the late The Hon. A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., former Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Federal Court of Appeals, USA, 1986-1987
- Admitted as an Advocate in 1988
- Judge, Industrial Court, 1993
- IMSSA Mediator in Community Conflict
- IMSSA Labour Arbitrator and Mediator
- Part-time lecturer on Constitutional Litigation, University of Natal, Durban
- Judge of the Western Cape High Court ,1996 -1999
- Judge of the Labour Appeal Court, 1997-1999
- Judge on the Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,1998-1999
- Member and later Chairperson of Rules Board for Courts of Law, 1998 – 2004
- Acting Judge President of Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court, 1999
- Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, 1999 – Present
“Events of this nature are the source of inspiration to others. I hope that this initiative will inspire others to be Living Legends of eThekwini” Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo