Bantubonke Tokota

Bantubonke Regent Tokota (born 9 September 1952) is a South African judge of the High Court of South Africa. He was appointed to the Eastern Cape Division in October 2017 after 20 years as a practising advocate in Pretoria. He was Senior Counsel from 2006 onwards and also served on the Marikana Commission of Inquiry between 2012 and 2014.

Tokota was born in the Eastern Cape. Before joining the bar, he was a magistrate and civil servant in the bantustans of Ciskei and Transkei; he was also briefly the Ciskei's Minister of State Affairs in 1992.

Early life and education Tokota was born on 9 September 1952 in Cofimvaba in the former Cape Province. After matriculating from Osborn High School, he worked briefly as an administrative clerk in Tsolo in 1974 before enrolling at the University of Fort Hare in 1975. He later completed an LLB at Vista University in 1995.

After resigning from the cabinet position, he served briefly as a magistrate in East London before taking up work as a lecturer at the government's Justice College in Pretoria from 1993 to 1996. High Court judge Nkola Motata, in another drunk-driving matter; and justices Chris Jafta and Bess Nkabinde, whom, with his friend Selby Mbenenge, he represented in Judicial Service Commission and court hearings after judge John Hlophe was accused of having attempted improperly to influence justices Jafta and Nkabinde.

More prominently, on several occasions, Tokota was instructed by the State Attorney to represent government departments in litigation, including in several matters which were reported or heard in the Constitutional Court of South Africa. the Mpumalanga Department of Education in a language policy suit brought by Hoërskool Ermelo; and the SABC in a labour dispute with four of its journalists.

In August 2012, President Jacob Zuma announced Tokota's appointment to the Marikana Commission of Inquiry tasked with investigating the Marikana massacre; the three-member panel also included retired judge Ian Farlam, who was chairperson, and Advocate Pingla Hemraj. The commission ran for over two years, but, according to Judges Matter, Tokota "probably spoke about three times during the hearings. Tokota was to the Marikana Commission what Justice Clarence Thomas is to the United States Supreme Court: as silent as a night in the deep Karoo."

Eastern Cape High Court: 2017–present In October 2016, Tokota was one of three candidates whom the Judicial Service Commission shortlisted and interviewed for possible appointment to two judicial vacancies in the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court. During the interview, the panel asked Tokota about the Marikana Commission of Inquiry's report and the role of muti in the Marikana massacre, about the role of race and racism in his decision in the Daily Sun defamation case, and about his prior work in bantustan governments. In particular, he was pressed by politician Julius Malema, who questioned his participation in the institutions of apartheid. Tokota responded that, "Apartheid or no apartheid‚ the law is the law... What do you expect me to do as a magistrate, go on strike?" and he joined the High Court bench on 1 October 2017. as well as the pre-trial motions in the prosecution of several politicians and public servants (including Sindiswa Gomba and Zukiswa Ncitha) who were accused of misappropriating funds set aside for the memorial services of former president Nelson Mandela. He also served as an acting judge in the Labour Appeal Court for two terms in 2022 and in the Supreme Court of Appeal for one term in late 2023. In addition, he was acting Deputy Judge President of the Eastern Cape Division from November 2022 to September 2023.

Personal life Tokota has five children.