Eba Kandovazu 

Erstwhile Chief Justice Johan Strydom was remembered on Wednesday as one of the architects of the country’s post-independence Judiciary, with Chief Justice Peter Shivute describing his nearly four decades of service as a lasting contribution to justice and the rule of law.

Speaking at a valedictory court session at the Supreme Court in Windhoek, Shivute said Strydom, who died last Friday, 25 September 2026, in Swakopmund at the age of 88, helped transform Namibia’s judiciary from a rights-repressing system into one grounded in judicial independence and the rule of law.

Strydom, began his legal career as a prosecutor before practicing as an advocate. He was appointed to the Bench in 1983, became Judge President of the High Court in 1990 and served as Namibia’s third Chief Justice from 1999 until his retirement in 2003. He continued serving as an acting Supreme Court judge until 2015.

He also served as chairperson of the first Electoral Commission and the first Delimitation Commission, as well as chairperson of the Judicial Service Commission.

“He delivered and concurred in judgments that we would today call leading human rights judgments, among them, the setting aside of a certificate issued by the State President that sought to stop the trial of those alleged to have killed the late Immanuel Shifidi. It was a small act of independence in a system designed to discourage exactly that. It told us something about the man that he would become over the years,” Shivute said. Attorney General Festus Mbandeka, on his part described Strydom as a jurist committed to the aspirations and values of the Namibian Constitution and a public servant who served beyond the courtroom.

Mbandeka said Strydom was a strong proponent of purposive constitutional interpretation and cited several landmark judgments.

He also recalled Strydom as calm, a keen listener and unassuming, with an interest in sharing his experiences.

Shivute noted that Strydom’s legacy would continue through the judiciary, jurisprudence and institutions he helped shape.

-Nampa