Recommendation of the position of Chief Justice
9 February 2022
The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) notes that the President of the Republic of South Africa augmented the process for the nomination of the Chief Justice by accepting nominations from the public and having an independent committee to shortlist the candidates. The LSSA supports this initiative in the interest of transparency.
This deviates from the previous appointment when former President Jacob Zuma only submitted the name of Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng as the sole nominee.
The LSSA participated in the nomination process, Justice Mandisa Maya, President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, was one of our nominees.
Section 174(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa requires the President as head of the National Executive to appoint the Chief Justice after consulting the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and the leaders of parties represented in the National Assembly.