Five candidates were on Tuesday recommended – “in no particular order” - by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for two vacancies on the Constitutional Court.
They are: Supreme Court of Appeal justices Nambitha Dambuza-Mayosi, Glenn Goosen and Ashton Schippers, Western Cape high court and labour appeal court judge Kate Savage and senior counsel Alan Dodson.
The list will be sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who will then choose two judges for South Africa’s highest court.
After interviewing six candidates on Monday and Tuesday, the JSC’s recommendations were unsurprising. The sixth candidate, Dr Madumetja Malepe, had a difficult interview, including being questioned about the fact that, as an academic, she had no judicial experience and no written judgments by which the JSC could assess whether she was “up to the task”.
The constitution requires that the JSC must give the president a list with three more names than the number of vacancies it is seeking to fill – in this case, five. This meant that, with Malepe clearly on the back foot, the JSC’s job was a fairly easy one, as there were five candidates remaining. The harder job will be Ramaphosa’s, who will have to decide – out of five widely respected candidates – which two to appoint.
Still, the JSC deliberated behind closed doors at length after the interviews finished – for more than an hour.
In announcing the recommendations, JSC spokesperson Sesi Baloyi SC said the merits of each candidate were considered but they were not ranked by the JSC, stressing that the list was being given to the president in no particular order. This was “very important”, she said.
The views of the JSC on the performance of each candidate, in their interviews, would be given to the president, she said. As provided by the constitution, he would then consult chief justice Mandisa Maya and the leaders of the parties represented in parliament.
The JSC sitting continues, with interviews for one vacancy on the SCA.
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