Apartheid-era Judge Ramon Leon dies
Publish date: 23 April 2018
Issue Number: 770
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: South Africa
Retired apartheid-era High Court Judge Ramon Leon died last weekend, his son former DA leader Tony Leon announced. According to a report on the IoL site, Twitter was abuzz with the news of Leon senior’s death. In 1985, Leon, who served on the Natal Bench, sentenced a young 19-year-old, Andrew Zondo, to death. Zondo was involved in the Amanzimtoti shopping centre blast that killed five people. A Mail & Guardian Online report notes that Leon allowed Zondo's accomplice – who ratted in return for anonymity – to go free. Zondo’s accomplice was later killed by the apartheid state special forces. Leon senior also worked as a legal adviser to the Lesotho Government after his retirement. In 2008, he made headlines after he was attacked by robbers at his home in an upmarket Durban lodge.
