Christopher Nyaole Jafta was born on 1959 and is a retired South African judge who served in the Constitutional Court of South Africa from October 2009 to October 2021.
19 Facts About Chris Jafta
1.
2.
Chris Jafta rose rapidly through the judicial ranks and was elevated to the Constitutional Court in 2009 on the appointment of President Jacob Zuma.
3.
Chris Jafta was born in 1959 in Matatiele in the former Cape Province, now on the border between the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
4.
Chris Jafta's father was a builder and his mother a housewife.
5.
Chris Jafta attended school in Matatiele and went on to the University of Transkei, where he completed an BJuris in 1983 and an LLB in 1987.
6.
Chris Jafta was promoted to District Court prosecutor in Cala in early 1984, but he was demoted in December 1985 for failing to cooperate with the security police and served briefly as an administrative clerk.
7.
Chris Jafta returned to the Cape to enter legal practice as an advocate in Mthatha in January 1993, focusing primarily on labour law and constitutional law matters.
8.
Chris Jafta served as an acting judge in the High Court of South Africa for four months in 1997 and for ten months in 1999.
9.
In November 1999, Chris Jafta was appointed to the bench permanently as a judge of the High Court's Transkei Division at Mthatha.
10.
Chris Jafta took office the same month, alongside Dunstan Mlambo and Nathan Ponnan.
11.
Chris Jafta himself served a stint as an acting justice of the Constitutional Court between December 2007 and May 2008, and by that time he was regarded as a "rising star" in the judiciary.
12.
Chris Jafta was interviewed in Kliptown, and after the interviews, he was one of the seven candidates whom the Judicial Service Commission recommended as suitable for appointment.
13.
Chris Jafta took office the following day alongside Sisi Khampepe, Johan Froneman, and Mogoeng Mogoeng.
14.
Chris Jafta was one of the most prolific judges on the court and was particularly well known for writing dissenting opinions.
15.
Chris Jafta was described as a legal formalist, as well as prone to defer to the executive branch.
16.
Chris Jafta retired from the judiciary on 11 October 2021 at the end of his non-renewable 12-year term in the Constitutional Court.
17.
Chris Jafta's retirement coincided with that of Justice Sisi Khampepe and Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.
18.
In 2008, while Chris Jafta was acting in the Constitutional Court, Cape Judge President John Hlophe allegedly approached Chris Jafta and Justice Bess Nkabinde with an attempt to persuade them to find in Jacob Zuma's favour in Thint v NDPP, a case that was pending before the court.
19.
Chris Jafta is married to Nomviwo Chris Jafta, with whom he has two children.