Noni Mokati talks to Dr Wallace Amos Mgoqi about his journey as a legal practitioner and some of the fundamental challenges facing the Constitutional Court and what he can bring to the table to change that.
Your background in law is quite an illustrious one, summarise your journey for us?
In the first year, I transferred to Unisa and that time even transferring to UCT, one had to write a letter to the minister of education and justify why I could not go to a black university, because UCT was white students only. So African, coloured and Indians had to obtain ministerial permits to be admitted to UCT. So I had to apply for one and justify it. That's how I go to complete my degree in 1984.Naturally, it gives us a sense of hope that there has been a change.
Over time there has been contentious issue around the role of our courts and roles played by judges. Are you of the view that the Judiciary is captured? I would say quite unequivocally, to the best of my knowledge of those matters, they were handled by the Constitutional Court in the best possible way. They maintained the integrity of Concourt. I have very deep admiration at how matters were handled, given the winds that were blowing against that court. They maintained the integrity of the institution and protected it from any assailment by political forces that were hostile towards it.
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