JSC under fire for politicised interview of the next Chief Justice

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has found itself on the receiving end of sharp criticism over the lines of questioning by some of its members during this week’s chief justice interviews.

But despite the awkward – and in some instances patently unfair – positions some were placed in, experts and analysts agreed all four candidates held their own. As retired Constitutional Court Justice Johann Kriegler put it: “South Africa can sleep peacefully, having seen each one is fit and proper and ready to take up this onerous job and can do it”.

He told Saturday Citizen on Friday: “If it’s done nothing else, the process has shown us that these are all people of quality and calibre and that we can place our trust in them to do the job competently.”

Earlier this month, the Presidency published a shortlist of candidates for the prestigious post, comprising Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga; Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) Judge President Mandisa
Maya; Gauteng High Court Judge President Dunstan Mlambo; and Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

Over four days each was subjected to a grilling by the JSC, which will now deliberate and make a recommendation to President Cyril Ramaphosa. It has again been criticised for allowing politicising the process and – in some instances – the ambushing of candidates. Kriegler said the issue was broader than this week’s events.

“The institution [of the JSC] is created by the constitution.

“The JSC’s existence and its composition are predetermined. It has by its composition a majority of politicians. Politicians are entitled to pursue their interests wherever and however they wish. However, a selection body like
the JSC is not amenable to the advancement of political interests.”

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A significant portion of the criticism levelled against the JSC stemmed from the unsubstantiated questions advocate Dali Mpofu and EFF leader Julius Malema posed to Mlambo on Thursday – without prior warning – around “rumours” of sexual harassment, which were ultimately expunged with the chair ruling they were unfair.

Earlier this week, Freedom Under Law (of which Kriegler is chair) called for Mpofu and Malema to sit out the interviews. This was due to a pending investigation into Mpofu’s telling a colleague and her client to “shut up”
at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture and a finding Malema had breached parliament’s Code of Ethical Conduct by asking an inappropriate question at a past interview. The call, however, was not heeded.

“In this particular instance, they’re both under a cloud; they have both been convicted of ethical, moral breaches of their own rules. For them to sit in judgment of others is bizarre. They’ve done it, they have done it badly and they have done it by setting a trap for Judge President Mlambo,” Kriegler said.

He said politics was inherent in the mix of the JSC.

Paul Hoffman, the director of Accountability Now, also believed the candidates did an impressive job this week. He said Madlanga’s extensive experience as an advocate and his having been sitting on the Constitutional Court bench since 2013, was an advantage for him.

Maya is a popular pick in the legal fraternity and, were she to be successful, she would be the country’s first female chief justice.

But Hoffman said yesterday he believed the interview had been “unnecessarily polluted by the comments made because she is a woman”.

– bernadettew@citizen.co.za

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