Death of Shaik Judge Hilary Squires

Hilary Squires, the judge who sentenced Schabir Shaik to 15 years imprisonment for corruption, has died of heart failure at his Westville home a few days before his 87th birthday, says a Sunday Tribune report. Other prominent matters the judge presided over included Xerxes Nursingh, who killed his mother and grandparents in 1994. When Squires acquitted Nursingh on the basis of a psychological disorder, it became a precedent-setting decision in that it was the country’s first successful plea for temporary insanity. After the Shaik matter in 2004, Squires was widely misquoted in the media as saying there had been a ‘generally corrupt relationship’ between Shaik and former Deputy President Jacob Zuma. Squires denied the utterance and set the record straight by writing to one such publication. Former KZN Judge President Vuka Tshabalala, who appointed Squires to the Shaik matter, said: ‘I appointed him to that matter because I thought he would be fair and give a proper decision and I was satisfied with his handling of the matter.' Tshabalala regarded Squires as a ‘good man’. ‘He supported me when other judges said I was too young and inexperienced for the position,’ he recalled. Another former KZN Judge President, Chiman Patel, said: ‘We respected Judge Squires. He crafted his judgments with absolute professionalism and I enjoyed his congenial nature and dry sense of humour.’ Constitutional Court Judge Leona Theron said Squires was a gentleman on and off the Bench. ‘I honour Judge Squires as a mentor, colleague and friend. He truly embraced transformation and wanted to see myself and other "transformation judges" succeed on the Bench.'

Squires was drawn to Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) by his wife Coralie, where he started his legal career as a clerk to the Chief Justice in 1956. Squires was admitted to the Bar as an advocate and became senior counsel. While still practising law, he entered Parliament in 1971 and became Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith’s Justice Minister and later the Defence and Combined Operations Minister, notes the Sunday Tribune report. By the time he quit politics, he was appointed to the Rhodesian Bench. He relocated to SA in 1984 and was articled at law firm Cox Yeats, before joining the Durban Bar. He was appointed to the Bench in 1988. His funeral is on Wednesday. He is survived by daughter Lindsey, son Steven and four grandchildren.