JSC to recommend Judge Mandisa Maya for Chief Justice post

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has announced that it will recommend Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) President Mandisa Maya for the position of Chief Justice.

This was announced by Advocate Dali Mpofu during a media briefing in Johannesburg on Saturday evening.

Maya was among four senior judges shortlisted by President Cyril Ramaphosa for the top judicial post.

The other candidates were Constitutional Court (ConCourt) Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo and Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo.

After deliberating on its interviews of the candidates this week, Mpofu said the JSC came to the conclusion that judge Maya was the right person for the job.

He said the commission would write to Ramaphosa informing him of their recommendation.

“After much deliberation the JSC has come to the decision to recommend that the president appoints Justice Mandisa Maya, the president of the SCA, to be the next Chief Justice of South Africa,” Mpofu said.

He said Ramaphosa would make the final call on who to appoint as Chief Justice.

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Should Ramaphosa appoint Maya for the job, she would make history as South Africa’s first woman Chief Justice.

Judge Maya’s credentials

Maya has been described as a trailblazer in the judiciary due to her impressive track record.

The 58-year-old is regarded as “a woman of firsts” because she was one of the first women judges on the Eastern Cape High Court, the first black woman to be appointed to the SCA, the first woman deputy president of the court, and later, the first woman president of the SCA.

Maya has also received three honorary doctorates and was recently appointed as the Chancellor of the University of Mpumalanga.

And unlike Justices Zondo and Madlanga, if she were to be appointed to head the judiciary, she would serve the full 12-year term as Chief Justice.