Sandile Ngcobo | |
|---|---|
| Chief Justice of South Africa | |
| In office 12 October 2009 – 14 August 2011 | |
| Appointed by | Jacob Zuma |
| Deputy | Dikgang Moseneke |
| Preceded by | Pius Langa |
| Succeeded by | Mogoeng Mogoeng |
| Justice of the Constitutional Court | |
| In office 15 August 1999 – 14 August 2011 | |
| Appointed by | Nelson Mandela |
| Preceded by | John Didcott |
| Succeeded by | Raymond Zondo |
| Judge of the Supreme Court | |
| In office September 1996 – August 1999 | |
| Appointed by | Nelson Mandela |
| Division | Cape Provincial Division |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 March 1953 Durban, Natal Province Union of South Africa |
| Spouse | Zandile Ngcobo |
| Alma mater | University of Zululand University of Natal Harvard Law School |
Sandile Ngcobo (born 1 March 1953) is a retired South African judge who was the Chief Justice of South Africa from October 2009 to August 2011. He served in the Constitutional Court of South Africa from August 1999 until his retirement in August 2011. Before that, he was a judge of the Cape Provincial Division and the Labour Appeal Court.
Born in Durban, Ngcobo split his legal career between his hometown and the United States. In South Africa, he was admitted as an attorney in 1981 and as an advocate in 1988, and he practised primarily in labour law and public interest law. After the end of apartheid, President Nelson Mandela appointed him to the Supreme Court of South Africa in September 1996, to the Labour Appeal Court in November 1997, and, in May 1999, to the Constitutional Court, where he succeeded the late Justice John Didcott. He also served on the amnesty committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission between 1998 and 1999.
After ten years on the bench, Ngcobo was elevated to the Office of the Chief Justice in 2011, nominated by President Jacob Zuma to succeed Chief Justice Pius Langa. He retired two years later after Zuma controversially, and unsuccessfully, attempted to extend his term five years beyond the standard maximum.