Raymond ZONDO
- Former Chief Justice, South Africa
Bio
Raymond Mnyamezeli Mlungisi Zondo, born on 4 May 1960 in Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal, is a South African jurist and former Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa. He studied law at the University of Zululand, the University of Natal and the University of South Africa, and holds several degrees, including an LLB and three LLM degrees in labour law, commercial law and patent law.
After practising as an attorney, mediator and arbitrator, he played an important role in shaping post-apartheid labour law, notably as part of the team tasked with drafting the Labour Relations Bill. He was later appointed Judge of the Labour Court, then Judge President of the Labour Appeal Court and Labour Court.
Appointed as a Judge of the Constitutional Court in 2012 and Deputy Chief Justice in 2017, he was appointed in 2018 to chair the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector. In April 2022, he became the sixth Chief Justice of South Africa since the advent of democracy, a position he held until his retirement in August 2024.
