Rammaka Mathopo

Rammaka Steven Mathopo (born 28 January 1963) is a judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Before his elevation to that court in January 2022, he served in the Supreme Court of Appeal between June 2015 and December 2021. He was formerly a judge of the Gauteng High Court from January 2006 to May 2015, and he practised as an attorney for 17 years before then.

Early life and education Mathopo was born on 28 January 1963 in the region that later became Gauteng. He was one of 11 siblings. He matriculated at Mokomene High School in Botlokwa Ga-Ramokgopa, north of Polokwane in present-day Limpopo, and completed a BProc at the University of the North in 1985. He was a member of the Azanian Students' Organisation, an anti-apartheid group. Mathopo ruled in favour of the opposition Democratic Alliance in ordering the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to make public the "spy tapes" – taped conversations between prosecutor Bulelani Ngcuka and Scorpions head Leonard McCarthy – which had led the NPA to withdraw its corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma. However, Mathopo declined to find acting NPA head Nomgcobo Jiba guilty of contempt of court for her failure to release the recordings before then. Supreme Court of Appeal: 2015–2022 In April 2015, Mathopo was among six candidates shortlisted for appointment to one of two vacancies on the Supreme Court of Appeal. He was viewed as one of the frontrunners, alongside Nambitha Dambuza and Trevor Gorven. He was interviewed on 14 April 2015 by the Judicial Service Commission, which subsequently nominated him and Dambuza for appointment. President Zuma duly appointed him to the Supreme Court with effect from 1 June 2015.

During his years in the Supreme Court of Appeal, Mathopo twice acted as a judge in the Constitutional Court, first between August and November 2019 and then between February and November 2020. The ruling was widely commended as progressive. Other majority judgements he wrote while acting in the Constitutional Court included MEC for Health, Western Cape v Coetzee; National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa v Aveng Trident Steel; and Premier of Gauteng v Democratic Alliance, which set aside the decision of the Gauteng Executive Council to place the City of Tshwane under provincial administration.

Constitutional Court: 2022–present In February 2021, the Judicial Service Commission shortlisted Mathopo and nine others for appointment to one of two vacancies in the Constitutional Court. During his three-hour interview on 13 April, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng consumed an hour with questions about alleged frictions on the Supreme Court bench. However, he also said that Mandisa Maya had ameliorated the situation when she was appointed as Deputy President of the Supreme Court. The Sunday Times reported that Mathopo was a "favourite candidate among lawyers",

However, the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution challenged the recommendation, citing inappropriate treatment of some of the other candidates, and the Judicial Service Commission agreed to re-run the interview process. Mathopo's second interview, held on 4 October, was also viewed as a success. Commentator Eusebius McKaiser commended him for "not gaming like some of the other candidates when asked thorny questions, but offering honest answers and making a case for why he holds these thoughts". The Judicial Service Commission again recommended the same five candidates, including Mathopo, and Mathopo and Jody Kollapen were the pair whom President Cyril Ramaphosa selected for appointment in December. They took office on 1 January 2022. Mathopo's first judgment as a permanent member of the court was a unanimous judgment in TM v Member of the Executive Council for Health and Social Development, Gauteng in May 2022.

Personal life He is married to Ellen Vusiwana Mathopo and has two children. He is a member of the Rhema Church. He is a grandfather of 3