Pierre Francois de Vos (born 29 June 1963) is a South African
constitutional law
Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...
academic. He holds the Claude Leon Foundation Chair in Constitutional Governance at the
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa.
Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...
(UCT). Before taking up that position in July 2009, he taught at the
University of the Western Cape
The University of the Western Cape (UWC; ) is a Public university, public research university in Bellville, South Africa, Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the Politics of South Africa, South ...
. He is popularly known for his blog, ''Constitutionally Speaking'', which he has written since November 2006.
Early life and education
On 29 June 1963,
de Vos was born in
Messina
Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...
in the former
Northern Transvaal (now
Musina, Limpopo). He grew up in a
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...
-speaking
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
family with four sisters.
His father, also named Pierre, was a lawyer, and his parents were ''
verligte''
Nationalists during
apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
.
After a period in
Hennenman, Free State, his family returned to the Transvaal, and he matriculated at Pietersburg High School in
Pietersburg.
After high school, he attended
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...
, where he completed a BComm in law, an LLB, and an LLM ''cum laude''.
He lived at the Wilgenhof residence for his first two undergraduate years, in 1984 and 1985.
Later in his undergraduate career, he joined the
National Union of South African Students, the
End Conscription Campaign, and the editorial board of ''
Die Matie.
'' He was also influenced by
Laurie Ackermann, who was one of his professors.
Upon leaving Stellenbosch, he completed a second LLM at
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City.
The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...
in
New York and an LLD at the
University of the Western Cape
The University of the Western Cape (UWC; ) is a Public university, public research university in Bellville, South Africa, Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the Politics of South Africa, South ...
.
His doctoral dissertation, completed in 2000, was about sexual orientation and the
right to equality in the
post-apartheid Constitution.
Academic career
Between 1993 and 2009, de Vos taught
constitutional law
Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...
at the University of the Western Cape, where he was appointed as associate professor in 2000 and full professor in 2003.
On 1 July 2009, he took office as the Claude Leon Foundation Chair in Constitutional Governance at the
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa.
Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...
.
He was also the Deputy Dean of the university's law faculty from January 2011 to December 2013. His research interests include
sexual orientation discrimination and
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
, the enforcement of
social and economic rights,
HIV/AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
,
race and
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
, and other
human rights
Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
issues.
He is board chairperson of the Aids Legal Network, a non-governmental human rights organisation, and a board member of the
Triangle Project, an
LGBT
LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
advocacy organisation.
He is also a member of the advisory council of the
Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution.
Public scholarship
Since November 2006, de Vos has written a popular blog called ''Constitutionally Speaking'', which primarily provides constitutional perspectives on South African social and political issues.
His blog posts are also published by the ''
Daily Maverick'' and by the ''
Mail & Guardian
The ''Mail & Guardian'', formerly the ''Weekly Mail'', is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, loca ...
''
's ''
Thought Leader''. Both for his blog and for his popular commentary in other national and international media, the University of Cape Town awarded de Vos its Social Responsiveness Award in 2013.
Political views
A vocal supporter of
land rights movement
Abahlali baseMjondolo, de Vos was critical of the government's attempt to evict residents of
Joe Slovo Informal Settlement from the
N2 Gateway site, as well as of the
Constitutional Court
A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...
's decision upholding their eviction in ''
Residents of Joe Slovo.'' In August 2011, he endorsed a call by Archbishop Emeritus
Desmond Tutu for a once-off
wealth tax
A wealth tax (also called a capital tax or equity tax) is a tax on an entity's holdings of assets or an entity's net worth. This includes the total value of personal assets, including cash, bank deposits, real estate, assets in insurance and ...
on apartheid's beneficiaries, and in 2024 he endorsed the introduction of
inheritance tax
International tax law distinguishes between an estate tax and an inheritance tax. An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and pro ...
. He also called publicly for reform at his alma mater, Stellenbosch University.
His commentary has frequently led him into conflict with prominent politicians and lawyers. In 2008 de Vos wrote a scathing column in ''Thought Leader'' about opposition leader
Helen Zille's decision to challenge the constitutionality of the
Erasmus Commission. In September 2008, however, the
Western Cape High Court upheld the challenge in ''City of Cape Town v Premier'', and de Vos wrote to apologise to Zille. Nonetheless he continued to criticise Zille's policies and public statements in later years.
In June 2009, de Vos and
Paul Ngobeni engaged in a heated debate on
SAFM about the prospect of Western Cape Judge President
John Hlophe's elevation to the Constitutional Court. Ngobeni, a supporter of Hlophe, accused de Vos of being a racist who hated Hlophe and congratulated him on joining his university colleagues in "a group of gangsters who make Hlophe their do-or-die issue".
In July 2018, de Vos wrote a blog suggesting that lawyer
Dali Mpofu had behaved
unethically in advancing dishonest arguments on behalf of his client
Tom Moyane during the
Nugent Commission. Mpofu posted a series of angry ripostes on
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
, alleging that de Vos's piece was "
defamatory, insulting & possibly racist" and threatening to sue him if he did not delete it. De Vos refused.
Personal life
De Vos came out as gay in 1993.
He also identifies as
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
and does not identify as an
Afrikaner
Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopæd ...
.
His sister,
Anna-Marie, is a prominent
advocate
An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...
; she was a plaintiff in ''
Du Toit v Minister of Welfare and Population Development
''Du Toit and Another v Minister for Welfare and Population Development and Others'' is a decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa which granted same-sex couples the ability to jointly adopt children. LGBT people had already been able ...
'', an LGBT discrimination case that was heard in the
Constitutional Court
A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...
in 2002.
Equality Act lawsuit
In February 2004, de Vos and his partner,
Coloured actuary Marcus Pillay, became the first plaintiffs to enter a case in the newly established
Equality Court. They alleged that Pillay had been denied entry to a bar in
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
gay village
A gay village, also known as a gayborhood or gaybourhood, is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Gay vil ...
de Waterkant because of his race. The court ordered a settlement, in terms of which the bar and its bouncers paid
R13,000 to Siyazenzela, a non-profit advocacy organisation nominated by Pillay, and the bar's owners released a written apology admitting that their admission policy was discriminatory and contravened the
Equality Act.
Twitter hacking
In September 2022, De Vos's Twitter account retweeted a post depicting child sexual abuse. De Vos said that his account had been hacked and deleted the Tweet, but
AfriForum said it would lay
private criminal charges against him for distributing
child pornography
Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is Eroticism, erotic ma ...
. After the
National Prosecuting Authority declined to prosecute, AfriForum continued to press for law-enforcement action, and in November 2024 the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions in the
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...
said that her office would review the prosecution decision.
Bibliography
Fiction
*
*
Non-fiction
*
References
External links
*
Pierre de Vosarticles at Daily Maverick
Curriculum vitaeat Academia
{{DEFAULTSORT:de Vos, Pierre
1963 births
Living people
People from Musina Local Municipality
White South African people
South African LGBTQ people
South African atheists
Academic staff of the University of the Western Cape
Academic staff of the University of Cape Town
Stellenbosch University alumni
University of the Western Cape alumni
Columbia Law School alumni
South African male bloggers
Afrikaner people
South African scholars of constitutional law
Wilgenhof