THE mother of newly appointed Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng says her son deserved the top position.

"I knew it in my heart that he would make it big. My firstborn is a leader, a motivator, a survivor and he is loved by many people," the 76-year-old Gabaipone Mogoeng said on Friday.

Resting at her home in Koffiekraal village near Madikwe in North West, Mogoeng's mother could not hide her joy. She said many people criticised her son but she knew "he deserved that position". She said Mogoeng survived many things. "We are happy that after his dedication and hard work his dream to become 'someone at the top' has come true," she said.

Mogoeng's mother said they knew from an early age that their son had a gift and a natural ability to be someone at the top. In this case, South Africa's top judge.

"He has been studying for most of his life and has won many medals from various organisations, including his primary and secondary schools," she said.

"Since then we have watched his struggles, hard work, dedication and determination because of his dream to become a judge. "I remember asking him: 'Why would you choose law? Isn't it too dangerous?'

"He laughed and said, 'Oh, mother, it's not as dangerous as it looks. I just love what God allows me to do with my brain."

Gabaipone said it was tough raising Mogoeng and her seen other children.

"We used to sell a cow every year to add to the little money we had for him to go to school," she said.

"I was a domestic worker and my husband worked at a firm that did not pay very him very well, lucky for us we had cattle to help us survive.

" I am happy now that I can reap the fruits of the seeds that I and my husband planted many years ago.

"I wish my husband were still alive to witness this."

Gabaipone said she remembered one day when she took Mogoeng to her workplace in Johannesburg where she was a domestic worker. He went to play with her employer's children.

"I remember him calling us in the evening and saying: "Father, mother I want to be like these children, not their colour but the language they speak.

"My husband then told him that to be like them he had to go to school and study very hard," she said.

Mogoeng's father, Setshwaelo Herbert, died two years ago after a short illness.

"When President Jacob Zuma officially announced him as chief justice, I said to myself, 'Oh God why did you take Setshwaelo so soon? He could have loved to witness this'," she said.

Apart from his position as a judge in the Constitutional Court, Mogoeng is also a part-time pastor at Winners Chapel International Church in Johannesburg.