Prof Lourens du Plessis, a gentle intellectual giant, passed away on Saterday 6 February 2021
Prof Lourens du Plessis, was one of the great minds of this country. His intellectual ability surpassed all of those around him, yet he was known for his gentleness and humility. He was never afraid to say what he thinks and his criticism of the former government more than once brought him and his family into big trouble. It was, however, difficult to refute any of his arguments, as they were based on fact and intellectual rigour.
He retired a few years ago as a Research Professor from the Faculty of Law, North-West University. He remained actively involved. He returned to Potchefstroom where began his academic career at the then Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education where he completed his doctorate in 1978 on the juridical relevance of the concept of Christian justice. His promotor was Prof Johan van der Vyver of Emory Law School. Lourens was Professor in and Head of the Department of Jurisprudence. He met up with the ANC members in Dakar in the late eighties. He was subsequently appointed as a professor in Public law at the University of Stellenbosch and was the founding director of the University of Stellenbosch/University of the Western Cape’s Research Unit for Legal and Constitutional Interpretation. His book Re-interpretation of Statutes is still the locus classicus in the field of the interpretation of law in South Africa. In addition to this, he served as professor extraordinaire of Comparative and Public International Law at the University of the Western Cape.
He received various awards and honours and was a visiting professor and research fellow at the University of Florida (College of Law) (1994 and 1998), the University of Hannover (1995), Stanford University (School of Law) (1997), the University of Melbourne (School of Law) (2002), University of Trier (2003/2004), Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, Heidelberg (2008). He was also a former president of the Southern African Law Teachers Association. He was the founding editor-in-chief of the Stellenbosch Law Review and received a NRF B1 rating while he was at the North-West University.
He was actively involved in the Multi-Party Negotiating Process drafting South Africa’s first democratic Constitution as Chairman of the Technical Committee on Fundamental Rights during the Transition that drafted South Africa’s first Bill of Rights in 1993. His publications are numerous. He gave rise to a new generation of academics and practitioners in South Africa and influenced the thoughts and ideas of many young prominent South Africans.
Over and above all the accolades he received, it is for his humanity, his concern for the people around him, his love for his family and his fight against injustice in society that he will be remembered.
Our thoughts are with his wife Wina, his three daughters and their partners as well as his grandchildren, but especially also with Prof Elmien du Plessis, who is a colleague of ours and who looked after him the last few months of his life. We shall miss him.
Faculty of Law, North-West University