Academic Profile

Professor Dikgang Moseneke is the former Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of South Africa and an Honorary Professor in the Department of Jurisprudence at the University of Pretoria. His appointment as Justice of the Constitutional Court began in 2002, followed by his subsequent appointment as Deputy Chief Justice at the onset of 2005. He also served as Acting Chief Justice in 2013 and retired in 2016.

Moseneke holds degrees in BA in English and Political Science, B iurus and LLB (UNISA). After serving his articles of clerkship at Klagsbruns Inc, he obtained admission as an attorney in 1978. He practised as an attorney and partner for five years at Maluleke, Seriti and Moseneke. In 1983, he was admitted to the Pretoria Bar and practised as an advocate in Johannesburg and Pretoria.

He served on the technical team drafting the Interim Constitution of 1993. In 1994, he was appointed Deputy Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission overseeing the first democratic elections in South Africa. His appointment as Acting Judge of the Supreme Court, Transvaal Provincial Division began in September 1994, after which he returned to practice at the Bar.

In 1995, he left the Bar and pursued a corporate career until 2001. In November 2001, he was appointed as a Judge at the Pretoria High Court until his appointment to the Constitutional Court.

He served as Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand from 2006 until 2018, and was the first Chancellor of Pretoria Technikon.  

Special awards and recognition

• Black Lawyers Association Excellence Award (1993);
• UNISA School of Business Leadership Excellence Award (1997);
• Black Management Forum Empowerment Award (1998);
• International Trial Lawyer of the Year Award from the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (2000) ;
• Global Jurist of the Year Award from the Centre for International Human Rights at Northwestern University School of Law (2013);
• Lifetime Achievement Award: African Legal Awards from the Commercial Lawyers Association of South Africa (2015);
• Honorary Lifetime Achievement membership of the Society of Advocates – Johannesburg (2016);
• The Archbishop of the Anglican Church’s Highest Award of Merit for Peace and Justice (2016);
• Black Excellence Recognition Award (2018);
• The Order of Luthuli in Gold (2018);
• South African Literary Award for the Best Creative Non-Fiction in 2017 and National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences Award for Best Non-Fiction Monograph for My Own Liberator (2018);
• George Bizos Human Rights Award of the Legal Resources Centre of South Africa (2019);
• Bolch Prize for the Rule of Law, awarded by the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke University, School of Law (2020).

Honorary degrees and professorships

• Honorary professorship in Banking Law, Unisa (2002);
• Honorary professor in the Department of Mercantile Law, Unisa (2004-2006);
• Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) City University of New York (2012)
• Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from the University of Cape Town (2015)
• Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) University of the Witwatersrand (2018)
• Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria (2018);
• Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) Rhodes University (2021);
• Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) University of Fort Hare (2021).

Research and teaching experience

Moseneke has presented many named lectures and held numerous visiting and distinguished scholar appointments at several universities, including the following:

• Appointed visiting fellow and lecturer at Columbia Law School, University of Columbia, New York in 1986;
• Rubenstein fellow, where he co-taught a joint post-graduate and undergraduate course;
• Distinguished scholar and visiting professor at the University of Maryland School of Law in 2011;
• Visiting scholar at the University of Georgetown School of Law in 2012;
• Distinguished global fellow at New York University Law School;
• Visiting professor at the University of Zurich, School of Law in 2013; and
• Bellagio Resident Fellow in 2018 and 2019 hosted by the Rockefeller Foundation.   

Affiliations and Memberships

• Founding member of the Black Lawyers Association and the Editorial Board of the African Law Review
• Founding member of the National Association of Democratic lawyers of South Africa
• Chairperson of Project Literacy
• Trustee of the Soweto Nation Building
• Chairperson of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra
• Chairperson of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund

Notable publications and speeches

• Moseneke, D., 1992. The press in a democratic South Africa. Africa Report, 37, pp.64-64.
• Moseneke, D., 1992. Media for the masses. Ecquid Novi, 13(1), pp.114-121.
• Moseneke, D., 2002. Transformative adjudication. South African Journal on Human Rights, 18(3), pp.309-319.
• Khampepe, S. and Moseneke, D., 2002. Report on the 2002 Presidential Elections of Zimbabwe.
• Moseneke, D., 2008. Oliver Schreiner Memorial lecture: separation of powers, democratic ethos and judicial function. South African Journal on Human Rights, 24(2), pp.341-353.
• Moseneke, D., 2008. Separation of Powers, Democratic Ethos and Judicial Function. Wits University, Johannesburg, 23.
• Moseneke, D., 2009. Transformative constitutionalism: its implications for the law of contract. Stellenbosch Law Review, 20(1), pp.3-13.
• Moseneke, D., 2010. The role of comparative and public international law. advocate, 63(63).
• Moseneke, D., 2011. Access to education and training: pathway to decent work for women. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal/Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad, 14(7).
• Moseneke, D., 2012. Striking a balance between the will of the people and the supremacy of the Constitution. South African Law Journal, 129(1), pp.9-22.
• Moseneke, D., 2012. A Journey from the Heart of Apartheid Darkness Towards a Just Society: Salient Features of the Budding Constitutionalism and Jurisprudence of South Africa.
• Moseneke, D., 2012. The 32nd Annual Philip A. Hart Memorial Lecture: A Journey from the Heart of Apartheid Darkness Towards a Just Society: Salient Features of the Budding Constitutionalism and Jurisprudence of South Africa. Geo. LJ, 101, p.749.
• Moseneke, D., 2013. Courage of principle: Reflections on the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Ruth First. Constitutional Court Review, 5(1), pp.91-103.
• Moseneke, D., 2013. A Tribute to Louis Harms. THRHR, 76, p.8.
• Moseneke, D., 2015. Personal tribute to former Chief Justice Pius Langa. Acta Juridica, 2015(1), pp.3-9.
• Moseneke, D., 2015. ‘Reflections on South African Constitutional Democracy – Transition and Transformation’ in 20 Years of South African Democracy: So Where to Now?. South Africa: Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA), pp.9-29.
• Moseneke, D., 2016. My own liberator: A memoir. Johannesburg: Picador Africa.
• Moseneke, D., 2018. The Lives and Times of Rev. Dr Stanley Mmutlanyane Mogoba. Oral History Journal of South Africa, 6(2), pp.9-pages.
• Moseneke, D., 2018. The courtroom as TV studio: the case of the Oscar Pistorius trial. International Journal of Law in Context, 14(4), pp.493-503.
• Moseneke, D. and Motha, S., 2018. Social Justice and Education: The Crisis in the Social Transition from Apartheid to Democracy. Birkbeck L. Rev., 6, p.17.
• Moseneke, D., 2018. Was it all in vain? New Agenda: South African Journal of Social and Economic Policy, 2018(69), pp.6-9.
• Moseneke, D., 2018. Life Esidimeni arbitration award.
• Levi, D.F. and Moseneke, D., 2020. My Own Liberator: A Conversation with Dikgang Moseneke. Judicature, 104, p.8.
• Moseneke, D., 2021. My Own Liberator: A South African Story. Protest, 1(1), pp.109-125.