Ex-judge calls for gender balance

Former Constitutional Court Judge Kate O'Regan is concerned about gender transformation of the judiciary.

Speaking at the Commonwealth Law Conference in Cape Town yesterday, O'Regan said there had been a "dramatic change in the demographics" on the bench.

In 1994, there were nine men and two women judges at the Constitutional Court - seven of whom were white and four black. Today, she said, there were nine men and two female judges - eight of whom were black and three white.

"One can see the racial transformation of the Constitutional Court bench has been quite marked. I am dismayed to see that gender transformation of the bench has been less significant," she said.

O'Regan welcomed the appointment of advocate Mbuyiseli Madlanga to the bench of the Constitutional Court. Madlanga replaced Judge Zak Yacoob, who retired this year. In February, Yacoob made headlines when he said it was time for more women to take their places on the bench.

Nationally, there are 171 male and 70 female judges.

The Judicial Service Commission has the responsibility to nominate candidates for positions on the bench, interview them and make recommendations to the president.

O'Regan reminded that judges should be appropriately qualified, "fit and proper persons" and "reflect broadly the racial and gender composition of South Africa".

"In South Africa, a country with this deep pattern of racial exclusion and disadvantage, the question of how you balance these three requirements ... is something upon which reasonable people can often disagree," she said.

"It does disturb me when I think that we try to assume, very often, that there's one right answer to this question.

"I do think that the JSC has struggled with a very difficult task to achieve a balance."

Last week, former JSC commissioner Izak Smuts accused the commission of overlooking white male candidates.