The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has sent President Cyril Ramaphosa its report in which it recommends that Supreme Court of Appeal head Mandisa Maya be appointed chief justice.
JSC spokesperson and commissioner Doris Tshepe confirmed to Business Day the report had been sent to the presidency.
Ramaphosa will now make his decision on who will be the country’s highest legal official, a position that has been vacant since October, when former Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng retired, after taking long leave in May.
By law, Ramaphosa must consult the JSC and leaders of parties in the National Assembly before appointing the new top judge.
The submission follows the JSC’s interviews with Ramaphosa’s selections for chief justice, who were interviewed in public last week. The process has led to an outcry after sexist and politically-motivated questions, poor chairing, and inconsistencies in the treatment of candidates.
Constitutional Court justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga was the first of the four to be interviewed. Maya followed, after which Gauteng judge president Dunstan Mlambo and justice Raymond Zondo, who is acting as leader, were quizzed.
While the JSC usually consists of 23 commissioners, since the chief justice post is vacant only 22 participated.
Justice Xola Petse, Maya’s right-hand in the Supreme Court of Appeal, chaired the interviews in which he and others posed an inconsistent array of questions to the candidates.
The JSC is a constitutionally-mandated body which oversees the vetting of would-be judges in SA’s superior courts. It also has structures, including a committee, which investigate complaints against judges and sanction those found guilty of misconduct.
With the JSC’s report before Ramaphosa, he now has the body’s reasons for recommending Maya over her three competitors. The JSC was not obliged to announce a preference after conducting interviews.
Spokespersons Dali Mpofu and Tshepe held a press conference on behalf of the JSC on Saturday night The duo announced the JSC’s decision to recommend Maya for chief justice before submitting the report to Ramaphosa.
“The Constitution is very clear that the JSC is making a recommendation,” Mpofu said. He added the JSC’s recommendation that Ramaphosa appoint Maya was the result of extensive deliberation.
“What made our task difficult was exactly that the candidates were all of a high quality, and the uniqueness of the process which was also unprecedented,” Mpofu said.
Mpofu has since been the target of complaints from lawyers over his conduct during the interviews. The Pretoria Society of Advocates has written to the General Council of the Bar of SA (GCB) arguing Mpofu should be removed as a representative of the profession at the JSC.
The GCB issued a statement expressing “strong disapproval” of Mpofu’s actions. Chairperson Craig Watt-Pringle said constituent bars and members wanted Mpofu removed from the JSC, and the council was engaging Advocates For Transformation (AFT) about this.
Mpofu, Watt-Pringle explained, is on the JSC as one of two representatives of advocates nominated by AFT and forwarded by the GCB because of a working arrangement between the professional organisations.
The Pan African Bar Association of SA (Pabasa) praised the JSC’s choice of Maya, and came to Mpofu’s defence in light of a critical opinion piece written by News24 editor Adriaan Basson.
Pabasa chairperson Nasreen Rajab-Budlender and deputy chair Dumisa Ntsebeza, both senior advocates, condemned the piece as a “patronising attack” which detracted from issues with the JSC’s process “which merit urgent debate.”
The Black Lawyers Association also welcomed the JSC choosing Maya, but it called for the JSC to run an internal audit. The process, wrote president Bayethe Maswazi, “was mired in disrespect for certain candidates and an absolute lack of decorum.”
In late September, Ramaphosa called for public nominations for chief justice in what was an unprecedented move intended to promote civic participation and transparency.
Hundreds of nominations were assessed by a six-person advisory panel to the president, led by former judge Navi Pillay. The panel produced a report, which has not been made public, and in October suggested eight candidates, two of which subsequently withdrew. In November, Ramaphosa settled on four names which he sent to the JSC.
Previously SA’s presidents have only ever sent one name to the JSC for chief justice. Traditionally, after a public interview before the commission and consulting political party leaders about the candidate, the president then appointed the top judge.
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