The DA has asked President Jacob Zuma to change his mind and consider candidates other than Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng for the position of chief justice.
DA leader Helen Zille was to have met Zumalast night to discuss the party's submission on Mogoeng but the meeting was cancelled by Zuma at the last minute.
The DA has until now been silent on Zuma's nomination of Mogoeng. It made its opposition to his nomination known for the first time after Mogoeng was interviewed by the Judicial Service Commission in Cape Town at the weekend.
In her submission to Zuma, Zille said the position of chief justice required a jurist with "exceptional attributes, experience and stature" who was at the "pinnacle of legal achievement".
She referred to many of the issues that came up during Mogoeng's JSC hearing, including his lack of academic writing, his "moral conservatism" on gender issues and homosexuality, and that his wife had appeared before him as an advocate in the Mafikeng High Court.
Zille questioned Mogoeng's legal skills, saying the DA could not find any academic articles authored by him and that he had written only 10 judgments significant enough to be reported during his 12 years at the Mafikeng High Court.
She said that opposition to Mogoeng's appointment in the legal fraternity would make it difficult for him to be an effective chief justice.
"Many judges, including Constitutional Court judges, do not support the appointment.
"I therefore recommend that you consider alternative candidates for the position of chief justice, or alternatively enable parties to nominate candidates," said Zille.
Mac Maharaj, spokesman for the Presidency, yesterday confirmed that Zuma had received submissions from all political parties and would announce his decision on Mogoeng's nomination soon.
He said Zuma had cancelled the meeting with Zille because he had received the DA's submission and "thought for the moment that that suffices".
Maharaj said Zuma was briefed by Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke - who chaired the JSC hearing - on Monday night.
The commission has voted to support Mogoeng, opening itself to criticism that it had merely "rubber-stamped" Zuma's nomination.
Section 174 of the Constitution requires the president to consult the heads of all political parties, and the commission, before appointing a chief justice.
Trade union federation Cosatu, a key ally of the ANC, said it was disturbing that the organisations opposed to Mogoeng's appointment were said to be involved in a "war" against Zuma.
"If we were to allow ourselves to be blackmailed by this logic, our nation would in no time be reduced into a choir of yes-men," said Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven.
The "party political posturing, in which members of the [commission] line up in favour of, or against, candidates on narrow party political grounds" had discredited Mogoeng's public interviews, said Craven.
Cosatu opposed Mogoeng's nomination because of "appalling statements" he had made in his judgments on marital rape.
Cosatu said Mogoeng's "mindset" was not in line with the Constitution, and would set a dangerous precedent in the appointment of judges.
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