Five years ago I travelled to Mangaung to interview the president of the Supreme Court of Appeal, justice Mandisa Maya. My colleague Ziniko Mhlaba (the producer of my television show at the time) and I were silent when we drove back to Johannesburg. We could not speak.

We were too wowed by the judge’s wit, wisdom, humanity and brilliance. Her deep thinking about the role of the judiciary in a polarised society like ours, her commitment to preserving the dignity of the judiciary in trying times, stood out...