Transformation as constitutional imperative: Justice Zak Yacoob and the making of a civil practice

Abstract

This chapter provides an empirical and analytical template that foregrounds the legal personality of Justice Zak Yacoob and his contributions in promoting the transformative objectives and vision of the Constitution. Our approach sees as inseparable the making of the man and his contribution to the Constitution. We propose therefore that Yacoob���s engagement with matters constitutional has its origins in an ongoing project rooted in his social, historical and political shaping. His identity, physical blindness and Muslim upbringing have shaped his contribution to the Constitution in unique ways. Identity, following Stuart Hall,is a function of ���processes that constitute and continuously reform the subject who has to act and speak in the social and cultural world