Thembile Skweyiya

Thembile Lewis Skweyiya (17 June 1939 – 1 September 2015) was a South African lawyer and judge who served on the Constitutional Court of South Africa between February 2004 and May 2014. He rose to prominence as a civil rights lawyer during apartheid and he served three years in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court before his elevation to the Constitutional Court.

Born in the Western Cape, Skweyiya was educated at the University of Natal, where he became involved in anti-apartheid politics. He was admitted as an advocate of the Supreme Court of South Africa in 1970, and in 1989 he became the first black African lawyer to take silk in South Africa. Practising law in Durban, Skweyiya specialised in commercial law and civil law, but became best known in the 1980s as counsel to several anti-apartheid activists and organisations.

President Thabo Mbeki appointed Skweyiya to the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in February 2001, and he immediately began a lengthy acting stint in the Constitutional Court. After he joined the bench of the higher court permanently in February 2004, Skweyiya developed a reputation as a progressive justice with a particular interest in children's rights. He retired from the bench in May 2014 and thereafter served as Inspecting Judge of Correctional Services from May 2015 until his death in September 2015.