Appeal court justice Mahube Molemela has been nominated for president of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), putting her in line to be the third most senior judge in the country.
Molemela's nomination by President Cyril Ramaphosa, announced on Thursday, will go a little way to ameliorate criticism about a dearth of women leaders in the judiciary. She will be the second female judicial leader, with former SCA president Mandisa Maya elevated to deputy chief justice in September.
Molemela is not the most senior justice in the SCA or the most senior woman justice. However, her nomination did not surprise judiciary watchers as she is considered a rising star and was interviewed and twice recommended for the Constitutional Court, in April last year and in October 2021.
Judges Matter’s Mbekezeli Benjamin said the nomination was “an inspired choice” because Molemela had a leadership track record and was a jurisprudential or intellectual leader. Judges Matter is a judicial agency that focuses on the appointment process for judges, providing insight into the Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) structure and processes.
Appointed a judge in 2008, Molemela was the first woman judge president of the Free State division of the high court, recommended for the post by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) in October 2014. This made her the second woman judge president ever appointed, after North West judge president Monica Leeuw, who is retired.
In that round of interviews, she gracefully trounced the most senior judge in her division, Mojalefa Rampai, who was, before the interviews, widely expected to receive the nod. She told the JSC in no uncertain terms that to appoint her would not be sacrificing merit. She had competence, integrity and experience: “I am meritorious,” she said.
Within months of her appointment as judge president, she was invited to act in the Constitutional Court and in 2016 performed her first acting stint at the SCA. While still an acting justice there, she penned a lone dissenting judgment — a courageous move for an acting justice — that was subsequently upheld by the Constitutional Court. She was elevated to the appellate court in June 2018.
This was not Molemela's only dissenting judgment to be upheld by the apex court. At her interview for that courtin April last year, SCA acting president Xola Petse said he admired her “fierceness” to dispute majority decisions.
Molemela has also served as a labour court and labour appeal court judge and acting judge of the competition appeal court. She obtained her B.Proc degree from the University of Fort Hare and LLB, LLM and LLD (Honoris Causa) degrees from the University of the Free State.
In terms of the constitution, the president appoints the SCA president after consulting the JSC. In the past, this has involved an interview by the commission.
Judges Matter said it remained cause for concern that Molemela will be only one of two women holding permanent leadership positions in the judiciary. “It means that only two women will sit on the 14-member Heads of Court forum, a statutory body responsible for taking important policy decisions in the judiciary [which has 40% women].”
The organisation called on the leadership of the judiciary and the JSC “to take urgent steps to bring more women to the decision-making table”.
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