sponsored by ENSafrica

The awards ceremony culminated with the CLASA Achievement Award, which went to The Honourable Judge Dikgang Moseneke, Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa, who received a standing ovation.

Introducing the award, CLASA board member Anna Isaac, chief legal counsel, Nedbank Group, described Judge Moseneke as "a man of impeccable standing, a wise and humble jurist with a proven track record of fierce commitment to judicial independence".

When aged just 15 he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for participating in anti-apartheid activity and befriended Nelson Mandela and many other leading activists while serving his sentence on Robben Island.

He began studying for the law while in jail and was admitted as an attorney in 1978. In 1983 he was called to the Pretoria bar, his application having sparked a dispute which culminated in the bar abolishing its whites-only rule.

He was appointed deputy chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission, which conducted the first democratic elections in South Africa, before becoming a High Court judge in Pretoria in Nov 2001. A year later he was appointed to the Constitutional Court and in June 2005 became Deputy Chief Justice.

"He is frequently praised for his towering legal mind, his commitment to fairness and justice and is described as an independent minded and imaginative jurist," said Isaac.

Pictured from left to right: CLASA's Anna Isaac, chief legal counsel, Nedbank Group, Gaelyn Scott, head of IP, ENSAfrica, The Honourable Judge Dikgang Moseneke