It is with deep sadness that the African National Congress has learnt of the passing of Judge Essa Moosa, an anti-apartheid activist and human rights lawyer that we will remember as a warrior who fought tirelessly for the legal precepts that we have come to cherish as South Africans.
Judge Essa Moosa was born on 8 February 1936 in District Six, Cape Town, South Africa. He qualified as a lawyer and was admitted to practice as such by the High Court of the Supreme Court of South Africa on 1 June 1962. In April 1998 he was appointed by President Nelson Mandela as a judge of the High Court of the Supreme Court of South Africa and based in Cape Town. He retired officially from active service on 8 February 2011 and continued to hold the position of a judge and could be called upon, from time to time by the judiciary, to render service in his capacity as a judge.
Judge Moosa was a champion for all those who depended on a just and fair legal system, something that would set him apart all his life. During the apartheid era, he challenged human right violations such as detention without trial, freedom of association, expression and movement. He also challenged unjust security and emergency laws and regulations. He represented a number of prominent anti-apartheid non-governmental and community-based formations and anti-apartheid political and community activists who were detained or charged under unjust laws.
The African National Congress pays tribute to this outstanding South African and send our deepest condolences to the Moosa family during this painful time.
May Comrade Essa Moosa’s passing stir us into action and inspire each and every South African to make a meaningful and significant contribution to the betterment of all society.
Issued by the African National Congress
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