'I've always considered myself black': judge Phillip Coppin after JSC asks for clarity on his race

The first question judge Phillip Coppin was asked by chief justice Mandisa Maya during the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interviews on Monday was for him to clarify his race and identity. 

Maya asked Coppin about his racial identity, referencing conflicting descriptions received by the JSC. He was interviewed for a Supreme Court of Appeal vacancy.

“I wanted to get something out of the way for me at the outset. It's a nasty question but a necessary one. We live in South Africa and this is an issue for us and it's the issue of your race. You've described yourself as coloured in your form, which is what should guide us, but one of the professional bodies has written in and said you're a white male, and so will you assist: are you a white male?” asked Maya.

Coppin said: “I don't know which white male would be born in Kliptown, Soweto, and attend school in Noordgesig Secondary School. In any event, to put the record straight, I've got nothing against white males. They can also make a valuable contribution. As far as my blackness is concerned, I've always considered myself black.”

Born in 1961 in Kliptown, Coppin said his upbringing in a township marked by poverty and struggle shaped his worldview.

“I’m biracial. My parents are biracial, so I share black African relatives and supposedly white relatives I never got to know. My life was lived more in black society, though I was coloured.”

The Gauteng High Court judge described the hardships he faced growing up, saying, “I’ve experienced suffering: poverty, lack of running water, bucket toilets, long-drop systems, poor schools. I was in asbestos classrooms, bad education, lack of teachers.”

Coppin said his race made it difficult for him to start a legal career. 

“I became a teacher soon after I passed matric because there were no teachers to serve us.

“My experience of life has been interesting and I can relate to the things we encounter even up to this day as far as poverty is concerned.

“I couldn't secure articles because I was not black enough or not white enough. I managed to go to university, which I finished in time and I knew I had to go and make a living at the bar. It wasn't an easy thing but I was grateful to black practitioners who helped me through my first years. I was privileged because I managed through hard work and luck to make it through all of this and get to university,” he said. 

The JSC is interviewing 54 candidates for 26 judicial vacancies, including the critical position of Western Cape judge president, formerly held by John Hlophe before his impeachment.

TimesLIVE