John Bernard Pittman was a South African-born judge Rhodesian and Zimbabwean lawyer, politician, and judge.

Biography

The son of William Pittman, a South African legal academic and judge, John Pittman was born in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

. He was educated at

St. Andrew's Preparatory School St. Andrew's Preparatory School is a Independent school, private, co-educational boarding school in Grahamstown, Makhanda (Grahamstown), Eastern Cape, South Africa. History The school was founded in 1885 and has an Anglican foundation. A Family ...

and

Rhodes University Rhodes University () is a public research university located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the prov ...

. During the Second World War, he served with the Union Defence Force as an artillery officer, losing a leg at the

Battle of El Alamein There were two Battles of El Alamein in World War II, both fought in 1942. The battles occurred during the North African campaign in Egypt, in and around an area named after a railway stop called El Alamein. * First Battle of El Alamein: 1–27 ...

. He was called to the bar in 1947 and practiced in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

and

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

until 1955, when he moved to

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

. He briefly went into politics, and acted as deputy speaker of the Legislative Assembly for a time. A member of the

United Federal Party The United Federal Party (UFP) was a political party in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. History The UFP was formed in November 1957 by a merger of the Federal Party (Rhodesia and Nyasaland), Federal Party, which had operated at the fed ...

, Pittman was on its left, and introduced a motion in 1959 to allow the admission of non-whites to the Southern Rhodesia public service. He became a QC in 1969 and was appointed to the Water Court, eventually becoming the court's senior judge, as well as serving on numerous courts and boards. Pittman was promoted to the High Court of Rhodesia in 1976, the only judge to be promoted from the Water Court bench. He remained in office after Rhodesia's transition to majority rule. In 1980, he tried the ZANU-PF minister

Edgar Tekere Edgar Zivanai Tekere (1 April 1937 – 7 June 2011), nicknamed "2 Boy", was a Zimbabwean politician. He was the second and last Secretary General of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) who organised the party during the Lancaster House t ...

and his bodyguards for murder: Pittman voted to convict, but he was overruled by his two assessors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pittman, John South African emigrants to Rhodesia Rhodesian lawyers Rhodesian judges Zimbabwean judges South African military personnel of World War II Rhodes University alumni South African lawyers Rhodesian Queen's Counsel