News from South Africa

"The community may wish to know that on December 31, 2008, South Africa's President Kgalema Motlanthe appointed Edwin Cameron to serve on the Constitutional Court, filling a vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Tholekile Madala. Justice Cameron previously sat as a judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal. Cameron had a long, distinguished, and very brave career as a human rights lawyer during the apartheid era. He is the only public official in South Africa living openly with HIV/AIDS and is probably the only openly gay governmental official in all of Africa. In recent years, he has been in the forefront of the struggle against AIDS-denialism even while serving as a judge. His appointment to the Constitutional Court is a great event for South Africa and a great event for all who care about social justice and social transformation through law."  - Prof. Karl Klare