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The Council and members of the KZN Law Society mourn the sudden passing away of Judge Duncan Zolani Dukada of the Eastern Cape High Court.
 
Judge Dukada’s illustrious career in the law was rooted in the humble beginning as a Court prosecutor and through his sheer commitment, brilliance and arduous application he went on to achieve the office of a Judge of the High Court.
 
Apart from the many public offices held by him, as well as his practise as an attorney, notary public and conveyancer, he served in many other capacities including being a member of the Council of the Cape Law Society.  He was also the Chairperson of the Eastern Cape branch of the BLA who recognised his qualities and recorded it’s support for his judicial appointment. He was the only attorney candidate before the JSC who was also supported by the Eastern Cape Bar Council.
 
In his practise as an attorney and subsequently a Judge he manifested the qualities of integrity, impeccable honesty, a keen intellect and decorum which underpins the esteem, status and dignity of our Courts.
 
In addition the attributes of fairness, independence and objectivity were particularly compelling in Judge Dukada.
 
Judge Dukada was a true and faithful servant of our noble Constitution to which he pledged his unqualified fidelity. He gave content to this commitment in the numerous cases he presided over which dealt with the values of a free society based on democracy, equality and freedom, namely, the principles of open and transparent governance.
 
In January 2014 he ruled that the full Kabuso forensic report on maladministration in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality be handed over to The Herald publication.  He held that it was compellingly in the public interest for evidence of substantial contraventions of the law to be revealed. This followed upon the refusal of both an internal application and an appeal in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act by the newspaper to have access to a report.
 
His commitment to accountability of public institutions for efficient government as prescribed by the Constitution also resulted in a judicial fiat by Judge Dukada when he ordered the National Department of Education to issue norms and standards for school infrastructure.
 
These judgments gave the law and more broadly the constitution a liberal purpose of interpretation to enable the constitution to play a creative and dynamic role in the expression and the achievement of the ideals and aspirations of our nation in the articulation of its values.
 
Judge Dukada was also a political activist and strove valiantly in the struggle for the establishment of a non-racial democratic order.  He was a member of the BLA National Working Committee as well as a Chairperson of his branch executive Committee and worked tirelessly for the transformation of the legal profession.
 
He has left with us a legacy worthy of emulation. Our thoughts, at this difficult time, are with the family and friends of the late Judge Dukada.