Judge Zak Yacoob: A Journey of Transformation and Justice
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In this episode of Legal Luminaries, anti-apartheid activist and former Constitutional Court judge, Zak Yacoob, shares his personal and professional life story. From experiencing life as a blind person – having lost his sight at 16 months as a result of meningitis – to seeing and overcoming his own prejudices as a young student and man, Judge Yacoob is both candid, humorous, and authentic in this Legal Luminaries podcast interview.
He says that after completing his LLB degree at the University of Durban-Westville in 1972, he tried in vain to get articles at over 30 law firms. When he realised he wasn't getting a foot in the door, he changed his plan – and that has made all the difference in his life.
Judge Jacoob also gives his opinion on some of the challenges and pitfalls in South African society today, including corruption and the judiciary, and shares his dreams of a social revolution for South Africans.
More about Judge Yacoob:
Retired Justice Zak Yacoob has been blind from infancy and studied at the Arthur Blaxall School for the Blind in Durban. In service as judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa from 1998 to 2013, he became known nationally and internationally for his contribution to the socio-economic rights jurisprudence of South Africa. After his retirement, he received the 2013 Felicia and Sydney Kentridge Award for Service to the Law in Southern Africa and was awarded five honorary doctorates from the Universities of Fort Hare, KwaZulu-Natal, Witwatersrand, Pretoria, and the Free State.
He says that after completing his LLB degree at the University of Durban-Westville in 1972, he tried in vain to get articles at over 30 law firms. When he realised he wasn't getting a foot in the door, he changed his plan – and that has made all the difference in his life.
Judge Jacoob also gives his opinion on some of the challenges and pitfalls in South African society today, including corruption and the judiciary, and shares his dreams of a social revolution for South Africans.
More about Judge Yacoob:
Retired Justice Zak Yacoob has been blind from infancy and studied at the Arthur Blaxall School for the Blind in Durban. In service as judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa from 1998 to 2013, he became known nationally and internationally for his contribution to the socio-economic rights jurisprudence of South Africa. After his retirement, he received the 2013 Felicia and Sydney Kentridge Award for Service to the Law in Southern Africa and was awarded five honorary doctorates from the Universities of Fort Hare, KwaZulu-Natal, Witwatersrand, Pretoria, and the Free State.
