Riyaz Patel
A true champion of human rights. A legal giant. An activist. A pioneer. A trailblazer… These are just some of the terms South Africans used to describe retired Justice Edwin Cameron, as the Constitutional Court honoured him with a special ceremonial session to commemorate his 25 years of service as a Judge.
Addressing proceedings in his honour Tuesday, Justice Cameron said: “I do not think, Chief Justice, that any single one of us feels the slightest self-satisfaction, complacency or self-congratulation – not at all.”
“There is still too much to be done and the peril confronting our country in the rule of law remains too large,” he added.
Cameron also thanked Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and his colleagues.
“Chief Justice Mogoeng and my colleagues, I thank you from my heart. It has not been easy for any of us.”
Mogoeng said Cameron deserves to be honoured at national level.
“Tough times lie ahead for those of us who are committed to democracy and to governance under law and to social justice for all people in our country and not the enrichment of an inside elite,” Cameron said.
The EFF paid tribute to Cameron by describing him as “a rare breed of a legal mind.”
It was perhaps fitting that on his final sitting, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Land Claims Court was right to appoint a special master of the court to handle a backlog of claims including those of 11,000 labour tenants seeking access to land and security of tenure.
Delivering the judgement, Cameron said:“The intervention by the land claims court was due to consistent failure by the department in its functions which cried for a remedy.”
The EFF added that Cameron’s judgment’s “set a high jurisprudential standard, particularly on the important questions of freedom of speech, political speech and the media.”
He worked as a human rights lawyer during apartheid and defended African National Congress members. He was also at the forefront fighting for gay and lesbian equality.
Cameron first graced the bench as an acting Judge of the High Court on August 20, 1994, until December of the same year.
In January 1995, late President Nelson Mandela permanently appointed him to the court.
Cameron also served as a Judge of the Labour Appeal Court for a few years.
He revealed that he was HIV positive in 1999, at a time when many people living with the virus faced significant stigma from a deeply ignorant public.
Former President Thabo Mbeki appointed him to the Supreme Court of Appeal in January 2001.
Cameron was appointed to the Constitutional Court in 2008 by then acting President Kgalema Motlanthe and served in the role for ten years and eight months.
