Sisi Khampepe

Sisi Virginia Khampepe (born 8 January 1957) is a retired South African judge who served in the Constitutional Court of South Africa between October 2009 and October 2021. Formerly a prominent labour lawyer, she joined the bench in December 2000 as a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division. She was also a member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Born in Soweto, Khampepe entered legal practice as a fellow of the Legal Resources Centre before she gained admission as an attorney in 1985. For a decade thereafter, she ran her own firm in Johannesburg, primarily representing employees and trade unions in labour law matters. Between 1995 and 1998, she served at the appointment of President Nelson Mandela as a member of the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and from 1998 to 1999 she was a director in the National Prosecuting Authority.

In December 2000, President Thabo Mbeki appointed her as a judge of the High Court of South Africa, and he additionally appointed her to the Labour Appeal Court in November 2007. During this time, Khampepe chaired the high-profile Khampepe Commission which advised against the disbanding of the Scorpions. After President Jacob Zuma elevated her to the Constitutional Court in October 2009, she served a full 12-year term in the apex court. Her best-known judgment was Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture v Zuma, in which she sentenced former President Zuma to imprisonment for contempt of court.