Eulogy by President Jacob Zuma at the funeral of former Chief Justice of the Republic, Justice Pius Nkonzo Langa, Durban City Hall

The Langa family,

Former President Thabo Mbeki,

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe

Honourable Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng

Deputy Chief Justice  Moseneke and all esteemed members of the judiciary,

The Speaker of the National Assembly and Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces,

The Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Zweli Mkhize and all Premiers present,

The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and all Ministers, Deputy Ministers and MECs,

Mayor of eThekwini Municipality, Honourable Cllr James Nxumalo  and all Mayors present,

Members of the Diplomatic Corps,

Leadership of the ANC Alliance and that of all political parties,

Comrades and friends,

Fellow South Africans,

 

We have gathered here in the city of Durban from all corners of the country, to pay our last respects to a distinguished South African and a committed servant of the people.

 

It was a sad day for the country when we learned that this much-loved and highly regarded former Chief Justice of the Republic, Justice Pius Nkonzo Langa, was no more.

The national flag is flying at half mast as we speak, in testimony to the loss that this young nation has suffered, only a few months before the celebration of 20 years of freedom.

 

Only in2009, the former Chief Justice bade farewell to his dear wife of 43 years, Beauty. Thus, his passing is another blow too soon for his children and the family at large.

 

Compatriots, comrades and dear friends,

We have lost a patriot, a freedom fighter and an accomplished jurist who dedicated his life to making South Africa a better place for all, especially the poor and downtrodden.

 

Justice Langa was highly successful in his career and could easily have chosen to become a professional lawyer and stayed away from politics and the struggle for freedom.

 

From humble beginnings, he obtained his law degree from the University of South Africa in 1973 and his LLB in 1976.

He worked his way up to serving as a prosecutor and a magistrate and was admitted as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of South Africa in June 1977. He practised at the Natal Bar and attained the rank of Senior Counsel in January 1994.

 

Despite these achievements, he realized that the law could not be practiced in a vacuum in a society that was in bondage.  He was politically advanced enough to know that he could not be neutral in the struggle to free himself, his people and his country. He then put his legal expertise to good use, to rid this country of institutionalised racism and apartheid colonialism.

 

To this end, he remained grounded in communities and helped establish civic organizations, residents' associations and also created platforms which provided the much needed guidance to the youth.

 

Beyond this, he took up cases involving political activists and defended them because of his personal convictions.

 

In executing this task, he worked closely with illustrious legal eagles such as Griffiths Mxenge, Navi Pillay, Phyllis Naidoo and others. Indeed, the legal fraternity of our country has produced many illustrious men and women! We are sitting with many of them at this service today.

 

This activist lawyer, pursuing freedom and justice, became a founding member of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers and served as President from 1988until 1994.

 

He was also actively involved in the structures of the United Democratic Front and was a founder member of the Release Mandela Committee in Natal and other regional and national committees formed to accelerate and prepare for the release of political prisoners.

 

These are all moments we should recall with pride next year in marking 20 years of a free and democratic South Africa.

 

He became a member of the ANC Constitutional Committee and became involved in the CODESA negotiations towards a democratic South Africa. He also played a pivotal advisory role during the Groote Schuur and Pretoria Minute processes.

 

All these developments contributed immensely to pushing forward the march towards freedom and democracy in our country.

 

Compatriots and friends,

 

It is important to understand and appreciate the general socio-political context in which our former Chief Justice was doing his legal work because that is what developed his consciousness as a lawyer and later as a judge in terms of his views and opinions.

 

He was well into his adult life when our collective sense of justice was offended by the Sharpeville massacre in 1960.

 

Other events which shaped his thoughts included the formation of uMkhonto weSizwe, the raid on Liliesleaf farm and the subsequent Rivonia Trial, the formation of the Black Consciousness Movement, the Durban Workers strikes, the Soweto students uprising and many others.

 

Having lived through these experiences, in addition to coming from a working class family that could barely make ends meet, he became passionate about promoting human rights and human dignity to ensure that his children and their children lived in a better South Africa.

 

Compatriots and friends,

 

Given Justice Langa’s expertise and accomplishments in both the struggle for liberation and professionally, it was not surprising that former President Nelson Mandela appointed him, together with ten other judges, to serve in the then newly-established Constitutional Court of South Africa at the dawn of freedom and democracy.

 

It was also not surprising that this humble jurist later became Deputy Chief Justice and later Chief Justice of the Republic.  

 

Being an activist at heart, this particular judge saw the Bench as another site of struggle. He championed transformation, espousing the notion of transformative constitutionalism.

 

In his own account, the Constitution of the Republic would best serve its purpose when it remained a tool to heal the wounds of the past and guide us to a better future.

 

He argued that transformation would be meaningless unless it addressed two aspects – the unequal social and economic relations in society.

 

Through his speeches and judgements, he sought to achieve are construction of the state and society, including a redistribution of power and resources along equality lines.  This was because he was concerned about the levels of poverty and inequality.

 

He stated in December 2006;

 

 “There is extreme poverty side-by-side with great wealth; there is homelessness side-by-side with large concentrations of property in the hands of a few.

 

“We have stressed that while the conditions of extreme inequality persist, the wonderful promises of the Constitution will remain a distant dream for the majority of our people”.

 

In 2011,addressing a Colloquium on Law and Poverty at Stellenbosch University, he stated again his concern about the impact of poverty.

 

He pointed out; "I have walked among the shacks and I have seen little children without food. I have asked myself what the real meaning of the Constitution is in the context of the founding constitutional values of human dignity, equality and freedom."

 

In his memory, we should all recommit ourselves to work harder in fighting poverty, inequality and unemployment, to create the type of society that Justice Langa dedicated his life to building, as a young activist up to his retirement.

 

This is the type of society outlined in the Freedom Charter and also in the National Development Plan.

 

We want to achieve the ideal society where the poor and the working class would be able to declare the following, as outlined in the National Development Plan:

 

·We have water.

· We use a toilet.

·We have food on the table.

· We fall asleep without fear.

· We listen to the rain on the roof.

· We gather together in front of heat.

 

We would have achieved our goals as a nation when each community has:

 

·A school, with teachers who love teaching and learning.

·A local library filled with a wealth of knowledge and librarian,

·A police station with respected and upright police.

·A clinic with nurses who love caring for people.

 

This type of society is achievable if the values that former Justice Langa espoused, of selfless and dedicated service are practiced.

 

Compatriots and friends,

 

As we mark Women’s Month, we remember the unwavering commitment of the former Chief Justice to gender equality and to a safer environment for women and children, free of abuse and harassment.

 

He stated in 2006;”Women constitute about half of Africa’s population and whilst they remain marginalized and victimized, we cannot talk of meaningful progress in removing some of the other problems that impede the realization of human rights’’.

 

Amongst his gender-sensitive judgements, Justice Langa found that the male-orientated rule of customary law dealing with succession had to be declared unconstitutional.

 

His judgment affirmed the social, legal and political importance of customary law in democratic South Africa and insisted on its equal status, while simultaneously affirming that customary law rules were subject to the discipline of the Constitution which espoused equality for all, both men and women.

 

Fellow South Africans,

 

It is important as well to underline the former Chief Justice’s commitment to media freedom and to balanced reporting. Given this outlook, he managed to diffuse a stalemate between the ANC and the print media last year, an accomplishment many may have missed.

 

The ANC had taken a resolution at its Polokwane conference in 2007, to explore the establishment of a Media Appeals Tribunal that would strengthen, complement and support the self-regulatory institutions such as the Press Ombudsman and Press Council, in the public interest.

 

The intention had been to balance the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the media, with the right to equality, privacy and human dignity for all.

 

Responding to the criticism, the print media leadership moved to strengthen self-regulation and established the Press Freedom Commission. They wisely chose Justice Langa to chair.

 

Due to a progressive outcome of the investigation, helped in part by the fact that the Commission was chaired by a seasoned judge and a man who had helped to craft the very Constitution that enshrines press freedom, the ANC dropped its demand for the establishment of a media tribunal.

 

It was the view of the organization that the Langa commission proposals had gone a long way towards addressing the issues that the ANC drew attention to at the Polokwane conference, and that any further work should draw on this progressive advancement.

 

The organization resolved to mandate Parliament to use the Langa Press Freedom Commission report and proposals as a basis for assessing whether anything further is required in order to address the concerns it had articulated in the 2007 national Conference.

 

Compatriots and friends,

 

We talk of building a better Africa and a better world. Justice Langa gave this vision practical meaning.

 

He worked beyond our borders to advance the cause of freedom, justice, equality, peace ,stability, human rights, democracy and the rule of law. He chaired a commission on behalf of SADC relating to the Lesotho elections in 1998.

 

He helped resolve the political problems in the Fiji Islands as a Special Envoy of the Commonwealth. He was also involved in constitutional review commissions in countries such as Rwanda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and as further afield as Sri Lanka.

 

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

 

Let me take this opportunity as well to salute the Langa family, especially his brothers Mandla and Bheki, who are veteran freedom fighters and consummate professionals in their own right, two men I have the pleasure of working closely with over the years.

 

I respect this family for its resilience, foresight and the ability to look beyond adversity when faced with difficult situations.

 

The Langa family went through intense and indescribable pain in 1984, when Ben Langa, a leading ANC and UDF activist and brother to the former Chief Justice was gunned down a this flat in Pietermaritzburg, in a sophisticated hit engineered by the apartheid security police.

 

Using their agents inside the ANC, the police planted a story that he was an enemy agent and manipulated his friends and comrades into killing him, thinking they were saving the movement.

 

The two assassins, Sipho “Ma-China” Xulu andLucky Payi were later arrested, sentenced to death and were hanged in Pretoria in September 1986.

Thus, the apartheid regime achieved “a triple murder without firing a single shot themselves,” to use the words of former President Thabo Mbeki in his statement to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the matter, on behalf of the ANC.

 

Justice Langa carried the pain of the family. He came to see us in Lusaka, Zambia and asked for an explanation.

ANC President Oliver Tambo personally apologised to the family once the leadership came to know the facts. We shared the pain and devastation.

 

On our return from exile, the leadership again apologised to the Langa family.

 

Remarkably ,despite this devastating incident, the Langa family never turned their backs on the movement or on the struggle for liberation and building a better South Africa.

 

Compatriots let me reiterate and re-emphasise here and now, that Comrade Ben Langa was never an informer.

 

He was a loyal and disciplined cadre of the ANC who happened to be a victim of a ruthless regime that sought to sow confusion, pain and mistrust.

 

That is the painful past we come from, a past that we decided to put behind us in 1994 in order to promote reconciliation and build a new nation.

 

Compatriots,

 

Let me extend our deepest condolences to the family, the legal fraternity and the friends of our beloved Former Chief Justice.

 

Sithi hamba kahle, qhawe lamaqhawe,uyidlalile indima yakho. Sizoqhubeka sivikele amalungelo abantu sisebenzeleinhlalakahle, futhi, silwe nobumpofu, obekuyinto obuyiphilela.  

 

Emndenini wonke, sithi qinani idolo kulesisikhathiesinzima nilale ngenxeba.

 

You should find solace in the fact that your father, brother and grandfather lived his life to the fullest, and dedicated it to making South Africa a better place for all its people.

 

I am certain that for this reason, Justice Pius Langa has found eternal peace. Ours is to draw positive lessons and inspiration from his life and continue with the good fight he fought until he took his last breath.

 

Lala ngoxolo Sothole, Sodumase,

Madevu agqabul'inkomishi!

 

You have fought a good fight, you have run the race, you have kept the faith. (Timothy2: verse 4-7).

 

May God bless you.

 

I thankyou.