{{Short description|Former Supreme Court judge in South Africa}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}} {{Use South African English|date=February 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = Essa Moosa | honorific_suffix = | image = Judge_Essa_Moosa_nonfree.jpeg | image_size = | caption = | office1 = Judge of the Western Cape Division of the High Court | term_start1 = 1999 | term_end1 = 2011 | nominator1 = | appointer1 = | predecessor1 = | successor1 = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1936|2|8|df=y}} | birth_place = Cape Town, South Africa | death_date = {{death date and age|2017|2|26|1936|2|9|df=yes}} | death_place = Crawford, Cape Town, South Africa | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | party = | other_party = <!--For additional political affiliations--> | spouse = | partner = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married--> | relations = | children = | alma_mater = University of Cape Town | occupation = | profession = Attorney | signature = | footnotes = }}
'''Essa Moosa''' (8 February 1936 – 26 February 2017) was a judge in the Supreme Court of South Africa. During the apartheid era, he was active as a lawyer defending political detainees, and was a founding member of the anti-apartheid National Association of Democratic Lawyers (Nadel).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/struggle-veteran-judge-essa-moosa-dies-7938707|publisher=IOL|title=Struggle veteran Judge Essa Moosa dies|date=26 February 2017|accessdate=27 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-02-26-essa-moosa-the-struggle-lawyer-who-was-everywhere|title=Essa Moosa: The struggle lawyer who was 'everywhere'|publisher=Daily Maverick|first=Fisher|last=Ryland|date=26 February 2017|accessdate=27 February 2017}}</ref>
==Biography== Moosa was born in Cape Town and was educated at Athlone High School where he matriculated in 1954. He obtained a Diploma in Law at the University of Cape Town in 1960, after which he was admitted as an attorney in 1962. His career as a judge started in 1998 when he acted as a judge, first at the Free State Division and then the Western Cape Division. In 1997, he got involved supporting the Kurdish freedom movement and encouraged several politicians of the African National Congress (ANC) to take part in the Musa Anter peace train.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Koç |first=Nilüfer |title=Kurdistan Report - Essa Moosa – ein Kämpfer für Gerechtigkeit |url=https://www.kurdistan-report.de/index.php/archiv/2017/52-kr-190-mai-juni-2018/570-essa-mossa-ein-kaempfer-fuer-gerechtigkeit |access-date=2022-12-12 |website=www.kurdistan-report.de |archive-date=12 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212022540/https://www.kurdistan-report.de/index.php/archiv/2017/52-kr-190-mai-juni-2018/570-essa-mossa-ein-kaempfer-fuer-gerechtigkeit |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was permanently appointed to the Cape bench on 18 May 1999.
Moosa was actively involved in human rights issues and represented the United Democratic Front and the African National Congress in a number of cases. He was also a member of the ANC Constitutional Committee.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1999|title=Names in the news: New judges|url=https://www.gcbsa.co.za/law-journals/1999/september/1999-september-vol012-no3-pp17-18.pdf|journal=Consultus|volume=12|issue=3|pages=17|via= General Council of the Bar of South Africa }}</ref>
In 2004 he was awarded the Order of the Disa by the Western Cape Province.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.westerncape.gov.za/text/2004/12/list_of_provincial_honourees_2004.pdf|title=List of Honourees receiving Provincial Honours 2004|date=2004|accessdate=26 February 2017|archive-date=21 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421072026/https://www.westerncape.gov.za/Text/2004/12/list_of_provincial_honourees_2004.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> He died on February 26, 2017.<ref>[http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/struggle-veteran-judge-essa-moosa-dies-7938707 Struggle veteran Judge Essa Moosa dies]</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Moosa, Essa}} Category:1936 births Category:2017 deaths Category:South African judges Category:South African anti-apartheid activists Category:People from Cape Town
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