Quartus de Wet (10 March 1899 – 18 December 1980) was a South African judge who served as Judge President of the
Transvaal Provincial Division
The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law which has general jurisdiction over the South African province of Gauteng and the eastern part of North West province. The main seat of the division is at Pretoria, ...
of the
Supreme Court of South Africa.
Early life and education
Born in 1899 in
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
, he was the son of
Nicolaas Jacobus de Wet
Nicolaas Jacobus de Wet, PC, QC (11 September 1873 – 16 March 1960) was a South African politician, lawyer, and judge who was Chief Justice of South Africa and acting Governor-General from 1943 to 1945.
Early life
De Wet was born and went t ...
,
Chief Justice of South Africa
The Chief Justice of South Africa is the most senior judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Constitutional Court and head of the judiciary of South Africa, who exercises final authority over the functioning and management of all the c ...
and acting
Governor-General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
, and
Ella Scheepers (his first wife), who is reputed to have composed the popular Afrikaans song ''
Sarie Marais
"Sarie Marais" (also known as "My Sarie Marais", ) is a traditional South African folk song, created possibly during the First Anglo-Boer War (c. 1880) or (more likely) the Second Anglo-Boer War (ca. 1900). The tune was possibly taken from a song ...
'' during the
Anglo-Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
. De Wet matriculated at
Pretoria Boys' High School and attended the
Transvaal University College
Transvaal University College was a multi-campus public research university in South Africa which gave rise to the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Pretoria.
History
In 1896 the South African School of Mines was founded in K ...
and
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...
, where he graduated with
BA and
LLB
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
degrees.
Career
In 1922, De Wet was admitted as an
advocate
An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...
(the South African equivalent of a
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
) to the
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
of Pretoria and after twenty three years in practice, in 1945, he
took silk
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or a ...
. He became a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division in 1950, and he became the Judge President in 1961.
He is famous for presiding over the
1963 Rivonia Trial of
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
and other
anti-apartheid activists.
During the Rivonia Trial, de Wet sentenced Mandela and other anti-apartheid activists to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
, instead of a possible
death sentence
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
, for
sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
as a result of the trial, and he noted as he passed sentence:
De Wet retired in 1969, and died in 1980; he did not (unlike the prosecutor,
Percy Yutar
Percy Yutar (29 July 1911 – 13 July 2002) was a lawyer who became South Africa's first Jewish attorney-general. He is most noted as the state prosecutor in the Rivonia trial in which anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela and seven others were c ...
) live to see Mandela's release in 1990.
See also
*
List of Judges President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa
References
1899 births
1980 deaths
Afrikaner people
South African people of Dutch descent
South African judges
People from Pretoria
South African Queen's Counsel
{{SouthAfrica-law-bio-stub