Gauntlett throws down the gauntlet

SOUTH Africa's legal community is bracing for another showdown - with top advocate Jeremy Gauntlett set to be nominated as a judge in the Constitutional Court.

Struggle stalwart Mamphela Ramphele and veteran lawyer Sir Sydney Kentridge QC - whose CV includes the Treason Trial - are among those who will nominate Gauntlett this week.

Earlier this month he was snubbed by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for a position on the bench for, among other things, not having the requisite "humility".

Gauntlett confirmed the nomination, saying: "Yes. Dr Mamphela Ramphele and Sir Sydney Kentridge and others are to nominate me."

He also took a dig at Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng - who chairs the JSC - over the judge's belief that God had called him to the post.

Should he make the shortlist, Gauntlett will square up against the same JSC members who this week revealed their reasons for rejecting him for a post in the Western Cape High Court.

Among these was that he did not have the "humility" required for such judicial appointments.

Ramphele said yesterday she would nominate Gauntlett. "He has the qualifications, the skills and the experience as one of South Africa's most talented legal brains."

She added: "South Africa needs to wake up to the war on talent that is being waged in our globally competitive world. We should be celebrating the talents of someone like him rather than pulling him down as too tall a poppy."

She said Gauntlett's status and competence as a lawyer were borne out "by the demand for his services within government, the private sector and the wider civil society".

The JSC could not be reached for comment. Among its tasks is to interview and make recommendations on candidates to be appointed by the president as high court and Constitutional Court judges.

It has come under attack after making public its reasons for rejecting Gauntlett for elevation to the bench in the Western Cape. Among these were that he tends to be "sharp and forthright".

In a letter to Judge Louis Harms, who had nominated Gauntlett, the commission said: "[Gauntlett's] excellence and experience as a lawyer were acknowledged. A concern was raised, however, that he has a 'short thread' and that he can be acerbic at times."

Gauntlett said he found the reasons "interesting" because they had not been applied to other candidates who were interviewed for the vacancies.

"Firstly, they've introduced a new quality for judicial appointments: humility," he said.

"The JSC itself has gone to great trouble to list required attributes for judges. This is not one of them, and has not been applied to any other candidate. Unlike other candidates, I have not thought that God has called me to be a judge."

When interviewed for his position as chief justice last year, Justice Mogoeng said he believed God wanted him to assume the job.

"When a position comes like this one, I wouldn't take it unless I had prayed and satisfied myself that God wants me to take it. I got a signal that it was the right thing to do," Justice Mogoeng said.

When JSC member Koos van der Merwe asked him if he thought God wanted him to be the chief justice, Justice Mogoeng responded: "Yes, I think so."

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