Farewell to Judge Ralph Zulman

Justice Zulman was the first Chair of the Appeals Panel when the Press Council was reconstituted in 2007, and served with great distinction.

He also served as a public representative on the Press Council until his retirement in 2018.

Justice Zulman had a stellar career throughout his time in law. He became an advocate in 1962 and had a well-established practice, rising to become a senior counsel at the Johannesburg Bar.

He was appointed to the Bench as a Supreme Court (now High Court) judge. In August 1996, he was appointed judge of the Appellate Division (now Supreme Court of Appeal) – at the time the highest court in the land.

Justice Zulman was also an internationally renowned expert on cross-border insolvency matters and represented South Africa at the forum of cross-border insolvency of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.

Prominently, he chaired the Commission of Enquiry into the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) – and, as the SABC noted, laid bare the corruption in the body in his report.

Justice Zulman served the Press Council with vigour and integrity, helping to define and write the Press Code and chairing many appeals.

Judge Phillip Levinsohn said of his colleague that, ‘He was forthright and honest and a staunch supporter of press freedom, while holding journalists to the highest standards of impartiality and fairness’.