MPs step in to secure Chief Justice's extended tenure as proposed by DA
The ANC has conceded that the DA's proposal of an Act of Parliament to secure the tenure of the Chief Justice was correct. On 14 June, the ANC members in the Justice Committee initially turned down the DA's proposal for a one-line ad hominem Act extending Chief Justice Ngcobo's term (a proposal supported by all opposition parties), as well as an alternative DA proposal that, where a Chief Justice has served fewer than five years, his term shall not terminate before he has served five years
In a meeting of the Justice Committee this morning, however, it was agreed that a Bill to secure the tenure of the Chief Justice will be legislated and submitted to the National Assembly for approval in the first week of August.
As the National Assembly will not be sitting until then, MPs will not be able to obtain the approval of the House, under Rule 238, to proceed with public hearings in time to prevent the expiry of Chief Justice Ngcobo's term on 15 August. For this reason, the Minister will table a Bill and we will proceed to legislate after taking public submissions late in July.
It is unfortunate that our proposal was not accepted right from the start, and it is unforgivable that the Presidency, Ministry of Justice, and ANC MPs have allowed an intolerable situation to deteriorate even further. It was bad enough that the Chief Justice's court had to sit in judgement on his term of office, but he himself then came into contention last week when, on 23 June, the Assembly passed a one-line resolution supporting the extension in principle, but not the method the President used. This resolution was a signal that MPs would step in if necessary. However, the ANC caucus spokesperson promptly politicized the matter by presenting the resolution as support for the President's action.
The Assembly will be asked to approve the Bill in whatever form the Justice Committee legislates it in the first week of August. In agreeing to this step, the Justice Committee does not take any position on the merits of the various legal challenges to the method whereby the President extended the Chief Justice's tenure (section 8 of the Judges' Remuneration Act).
What we are doing now is following up last week's political signal (the resolution) with a legal signal, which will become a law that will secure the Chief Justice's position.
Statement issued by Dene Smuts MP, DA Shadow Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, June 28 2011
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