Should colleagues congratulate or commiserate with Pius Langa? On March nth, South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, nominated him to become chief justice when the incumbent, Arthur Chaskalson, retires in May. Mr Langa, who is widely respected, will be the first black to hold the office. He takes over amid a poisonous row about alleged racism and political interference in the justice system. South Africa has admirably independent judges, but not all of them are happy. The top judge in Cape Town, John Hlophe, recently wrote a furious 43-page report, alleging that many of his white colleagues are racist. Some of his complaints sound petty: a few whites have snubbed him, he claims, and he dislikes hearing Afrikaans spoken in his chambers.
展开▼
