The government moved to reassure the country that there was nothing sinister in chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng’s decision to take an extended break that has effectively ended his time as SA’s top judge.
The changing of the guard at the court was not political, and had nothing to do with the justices considering whether former president Jacob Zuma should be found guilty of contempt of court and be jailed, justice minister Ronald Lamola told Business Day.
“He has enough days, leave days. There was no reason for him to offer an explanation. He simply applied to take his leave days,” Lamola said on Thursday.
The law on judges’ pay and work rules allows Mogoeng three-and-a-half months of long leave in every four-year cycle. His leave will run until the end of his term as the country’s most senior judge in October.
The presidency did not give a reason for Mogoeng’s departure, which was announced on Wednesday and became effective on May 1. His leave will run until the end of his term as the country’s most senior judge in October.
Appointed by Zuma as a constitutional court judge in 2009, and made chief justice two years later, the most significant ruling that Mogoeng presided over was its 2016 finding that the former president had failed to uphold and respect the constitution when he failed to abide by remedial action ordered by then public protector Thuli Madonsela over multimillion-rand renovations to his Nkandla compound.
The latter part of his time in office has been remembered for controversies over overtly political comments on SA’s foreign policy towards Israel, and linking potential Covid-19 vaccines with “the devil”.
Mogoeng’s exit follows his appeal in April against the judicial conduct committee, which makes recommendations on appointments to the bench and investigates complaints against judges, finding him guilty of misconduct over the Israel comments.
His statement on vaccines led to a health advocacy group filing a formal complaint with the JSC.
These controversies and the upcoming Zuma judgment had nothing to do with Mogoeng’s decision, Lamola said. President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed justice Sisi Khampepe, who is acting as deputy chief justice in the absence of state capture inquiry chair Raymond Zondo.
Lamola told Business Day that Khampepe was appointed “upon Mogoeng’s own recommendation”.
A graduate of Harvard University, 64-year-old Khampepe joined the Constitutional Court in the same year as Mogoeng. She previously served on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that investigated crimes committed during the apartheid era. She will head up the court until mid-2021, performing tasks such as allocating cases, chairing meetings and high-level administration.
According to the process laid out in the Superior Courts Act, Khampepe must first be appointed acting deputy chief justice, and only then can she serve as acting chief justice.
Nathi Mncube, a spokesperson for the judiciary, said: “It is normal practice in the judiciary for judges to take their leave whenever it is due. The chief justice’s long leave was due and he has duly taken it.”
Mogoeng has been unable to go on leave since July 2018.
Zondo is under pressure to wrap up the inquiry, which was granted an extra R75m this week, by June.
He will then be in a position to take over from Khampepe in the Constitutional Court.
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