Chris Jafta | |
|---|---|
| Justice of the Constitutional Court | |
| In office 12 October 2009 – 11 October 2021 | |
| Appointed by | Jacob Zuma |
| Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal | |
| In office November 2004 – 11 October 2009 | |
| Appointed by | Thabo Mbeki |
| Judge of the High Court | |
| In office November 1999 – November 2004 | |
| Appointed by | Thabo Mbeki |
| Division | Transkei |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Christopher Nyaole Jafta 1959 Matatiele, Cape Province |
| Alma mater | University of Transkei |
Christopher Nyaole Jafta (born 1959) is a retired South African judge who served in the Constitutional Court of South Africa from October 2009 to October 2021. Formerly an academic and practising advocate in the Transkei, he joined the bench in November 1999 as a judge of the Transkei Division. Thereafter he served in the Supreme Court of Appeal from November 2004 to October 2009.
Jafta was born in the present-day Matatiele, Eastern Cape, and began his legal career as a civil servant in the Transkei bantustan from 1983 to 1988, including as a magistrate from 1986 to 1988. Between 1988 and 1992, he taught commercial law and constitutional law at the University of Transkei, his alma mater, and thereafter he practised as an advocate in Mthatha until he joined the High Court bench in 1999. He rose rapidly through the judicial ranks and was elevated to the Constitutional Court in 2009 on the appointment of President Jacob Zuma. During his 12-year term in the apex court, he was regarded as a member of the court's politically conservative minority.