Steven Majiedt

Steven Arnold Majiedt (born 18 December 1960) is a South African judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He joined the Constitutional Court in October 2019 as an appointee of President Cyril Ramaphosa. Formerly a practicing advocate, he served in the Supreme Court of Appeal from 2010 to 2019 and in the Northern Cape High Court from 2000 to 2010.

Born in the Northern Cape, Majiedt attended the University of the Western Cape and practiced law in Cape Town between 1984 and 1995. He gained his legal reputation serving as junior counsel on public law matters concerning apartheid legislation. After the end of apartheid, he was Provincial State Law Adviser to Premier Manne Dipico's government in the Northern Cape between 1996 and 2000 and then practiced briefly in chambers in Kimberley before he was appointed to the High Court of South Africa later in 2000.

During his nine years' service on the Supreme Court of Appeal, Majiedt acted in the Constitutional Court in 2014 and was nominated unsuccessfully for permanent elevation in 2017. After a subsequent round of interviews in April 2019, Majiedt was appointed to the Constitutional Court alongside Zukisa Tshiqi; the pair became Ramaphosa's first appointments to the highest court and replaced retired Justices Bess Nkabinde and Dikgang Moseneke.

Early life and education Majiedt was born on 18 December 1960 in the small town of Kenhardt in the former Cape Province. His family were descended from a mixed Khoisan–Javanese lineage, and he was designated as Coloured under apartheid. Both of his parents were teachers and, when he was eight years old, his family moved to Barkly West, where his father became a school principal. As junior counsel, Majiedt assisted prominent senior counsel including Thembile Skweyiya, Dikgang Moseneke, Bernard Ngoepe, and Pius Langa;

Between 2006 and 2008, Majiedt was involved in a dispute with Judge President Frans Kgomo, the head of the Northern Cape High Court. The dispute apparently began in 2006 with a row over Kgomo's decision to advise Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla to appoint Judge Pule Tlaletsi as acting Judge President while Kgomo was on leave – a recommendation that was unpopular with other judges in the division because of Tlaletsi's lack of seniority. Commentators linked the discord to racial tensions, with senior white and Coloured judges apparently unhappy that Tlaletsi's race, as a black African, overrode their seniority.' In 2015, he was part of the Supreme Court coram that overturned the High Court's culpable homicide conviction in State v Oscar Pistorius, finding Paralympian Oscar Pistorius guilty of murdering Reeva Steenkamp.

Constitutional Court judgements From January to May 2014, During his brief secondment to the Constitutional Court, Majiedt heard 11 cases and wrote several judgements. However, during his interview with the Judicial Service Commission, Majiedt said that he preferred to identify as black rather than as Coloured. He was also asked about racial divisions among judges in the Supreme Court and about his feud with Frans Kgomo, who was a member of the commission; on the latter point, Majiedt said that he and Kgomo had become friends and that he had learned from the altercation "that one should control one's temper". but President Zuma elected to appoint Theron to the vacancy.

Two years later, in April 2019, Majiedt was again shortlisted for Constitutional Court appointment, this time as one of six candidates vying to replace retired Justices Bess Nkabinde and Dikgang Moseneke. After holding interviews, the Judicial Service Commission recommended Majiedt and four others as suitable for appointment. He and Zukisa Tshiqi were viewed as the front-runners.

Constitutional Court: 2019–present Following the Judicial Service Commission interviews of April 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on 11 September that Majiedt and Tshiqi would be appointed to the Constitutional Court; they were Ramaphosa's first appointments to the highest court and joined the bench on 1 October 2019. Since then, notable judgements penned by Majiedt include the court's unanimous judgements in Qwelane v South African Human Rights Commission, a hate speech matter which established the unconstitutionality of Section 10(1)(a) of the Equality Act, and in Mineral Sands Resources v Reddell'', which asserted for the first time the validity of the SLAPP suit defence under South African common law.

Personal life Majiedt is married to Rowena Mandy Majiedt, who is a businesswoman and former teacher; they have one daughter. and he was formerly the chairperson of the council of the William Humphreys Art Gallery in Kimberley.