Mahendra Chetty

Mahendra Ramasamy Chetty (born 31 May 1963) is a South African judge of the High Court of South Africa. He was appointed to the KwaZulu-Natal Division in June 2014. Before that, Chetty was an attorney for the Legal Resources Centre, where he worked between 1990 and 2014; he was the director of the centre's Durban office from 1999 onwards. He was admitted as an attorney in 1988.

Early life and education Chetty was born on 31 May 1963 in Durban in the former Natal Province. He was classified as Indian under apartheid, and he matriculated at Reservoir Hills High in Durban. Chetty responded that, "I am a fair person... The fact that I have acted my entire life for a group of people doesn't mean I will abdicate my judicial responsibility."

After the interviews, Chetty was among the four candidates whom the Judicial Service Commission recommended for appointment, the others being Nkosinathi Chili, Peter Olsen, and Thoba Poyo-Dlwati. and Chetty took office on 1 June 2014.

Among other notable High Court matters, Chetty presided in the corruption trial of Mike Mabuyakhulu, a former member of the Executive Council of KwaZulu-Natal; after a two-year trial, Chetty acquitted Mabuyakhulu in May 2023. The trial took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in September 2021, Chetty controversially ordered that all attendees at hearings – whether defendants, lawyers, supporters, or journalists – had to display proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result. Following media coverage of this directive, the Office of the Chief Justice released a statement clarifying that Chetty had made the order on his own discretion based on the wide degree of public interest in the Mabuyakhulu hearings.

Chetty was an acting judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal between June and September 2022 and between October and November 2023.

Personal life He is married to Marsha Chetty and has two children.