Dikgang Moseneke Keynote Speaker

Dikgang Moseneke is a South African judge and former Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa.

Dikgang Moseneke was born in Pretoria and went to school there. He joined the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) at the age of 14. The following year he was arrested, detained and convicted of participating in anti-apartheid activity. He spent ten years as a prisoner on Robben Island, where he met and befriended Nelson Mandela and other leading activists. While imprisoned he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English and political science and a B.Iuris degree, and would later complete a Bachelor of Laws, all from the University of South Africa. He also served on the disciplinary committee of the prisoners’ self-governed association football body, Makana F.A. 

Dikgang Moseneke started his professional career as an attorney’s clerk at Klagbruns Inc in Pretoria in 1976. He was admitted as an attorney in 1978 and practised for five years at Maluleke, Seriti and Moseneke. In 1983 he was called to the Pretoria Bar. His application had sparked a dispute within the Bar which culminated in its abolishing its “whites-only” membership rule. Moseneke practised as an advocate in Johannesburg and Pretoria and was awarded senior counsel status ten years later. Moseneke worked underground for the PAC during the 1980s and became its Deputy President when it was unbanned in 1990. Dikgang Moseneke also served on the technical committee that drafted the interim constitution of 1993. In 1994 he was appointed Deputy Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission, which conducted the first democratic elections in South Africa