President, chief justice mourn the death of former EC judge president Temba Sangoni
Former Eastern Cape judge president Temba Sangoni died in Johannesburg on Tuesday after a short illness, according to his family.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said the death of Sangoni was a devastating loss to his family and immediate community and was a profound loss to the judiciary and the country's legal heritage.
'Judge Sangoni lived for justice and the improvement of the material conditions of communities in the Eastern Cape and elsewhere through constitutionally sound, progressive jurisprudence.
'Under his leadership, the judiciary in the Eastern Cape also applied its mind collectively and individually to matters pertaining to the development of this economically vital province,' Ramaphosa said.
The office of the chief justice said Sangoni's illustrious career was marked by his profound commitment to the rule of law and the transformation of South Africa's legal landscape.
Appointed as judge president of the Eastern Cape high court, he served with distinction until his retirement in 2017, leaving an indelible legacy in the annals of the country's legal system.
'His leadership was instrumental in addressing systemic challenges within the Eastern Cape judiciary, including case flow management and access to justice in historically marginalised regions such as Mthatha.
'Beyond the bench, judge Sangoni was a respected senior traditional leader of the Qokolweni-Zimbane Traditional Council in Mthatha, bridging the realms of customary law and constitutional democracy,' the office said.
It said his life was a testament to the ideals of justice, humility and service, principles he upheld as one of the three executors of Nelson Mandela's estate, alongside George Bizos SC and Justice Dikgang Moseneke.
'Judge Sangoni's legacy is etched not only in the judgments he delivered but in the lives he touched and the dignity he brought to the profession. We are poorer for his passing but richer for his contributions,' chief justice Mandisa Maya said.
Details regarding memorial services will be communicated in due course
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I became more aggressive.' These traumas burrowed deep into his psyche, manifesting in ways he didn't recognise until much later. Yet even in the darkness, there were moments of almost cinematic defiance. Evans recalls the day security police barged into his house, threatening him over military service. 'They said, 'Either you cooperate, or the military police will arrest you at work.' I told them, 'Get the fuck out of my house!'' The next day, his motorbike's tyres were slashed. But in a surprising twist, his father quietly intervened. Using his weight as a bishop, he wrote to the authorities, arguing that his son deserved a delay in conscription. Evans only discovered this act of paternal protection after his father's death, when he stumbled upon the letters in a box of papers. 'It made me cry,' he says softly. 'We'd always had a bit of distance, but I never told him I was proud of him too.' That fragile reconciliation came just before his father's final decline. Diagnosed with motor neurone disease, he had less than a year to live. Evans speaks of those last months with a tenderness that cuts through the decades of conflict: 'We had our reckoning, and then it was gone.' If there's a thread running through Evans' life, it's the question of what it means to stand firm when the world seems determined to push you down. In South Africa, that meant working for the M&G during its tumultuous early years — reporting from a newsroom in Braamfontein, trading stories and dodging censorship, feeling invincible in his twenties, even as he was detained and assaulted by the state. Gavin Evans' last amateur fight in 1982 — a knock-out win. 'You think it's not affecting you,' he says. 'But it does. It seeps in.' After moving to England in the early Nineties, Evans continued to write and teach. Son of a Preacher Man is his ninth non-fiction book, and today he lectures first-year and postgraduate journalism students at Birkbeck, University of London. Evans, now 65, speaks of his family. 'I've got two daughters, Tessa and Caitlyn, both of whom appear in the book. Towards the end, there's a chapter about Tessa and her husband Ciaran and their son, Ferdi. 'The final chapter is all about Ferdi. You know, the book's about fathers and sons, and now it's also about grandfathers and grandsons, because I spend a lot of time with Ferdi. I adore him. He's three and three-quarters, and if you ask him how old he is, that's what he'll tell you — three and three-quarters.' These personal milestones deepened his understanding of the legacy of fatherhood, both in the book and in life. Reflecting on his days as a young journalist in South Africa and his complex relationship with his father, Evans sees his own journey as a testament to resilience and the redemptive power of storytelling. As he guides the next generation of journalists, he remains mindful of the lessons of the past and the bright promise of those still to come.
