South Africa appoints a woman as chief justice for the first time

Associated Press

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa has appointed its first female chief justice. President Cyril Ramaphosa named Mandisa Maya, the current deputy chief justice, as the country’s most senior judge on Thursday. Her term is due to start on Sept. 1, when she will replace Chief Justice Raymond Zondo as the head of the apex Constitutional Court. Zondo is retiring. Maya, 60, previously served as the judge president of the Supreme Court of Appeal — the second-highest court — before her promotion to the Constitutional Court. She was the first Black woman to be a judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal and the first woman to be appointed deputy president and then president of that court.