DA welcomes rerun of JSC interviews for ConCourt judges

17 August 2021

The DA welcomes the decision by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to redo interviews for the Constitutional Court judges after the Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution (Casac) successfully challenged the JSC interview process and reached an agreement that has been submitted to the High Court to be made an order of the Court.

Casac challenged the JSC interview process after it came to light that only the five shortlisted candidates recommended by the JSC Chairperson, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, were deliberated on. In order for the new interview process to be as fair and objective as possible, the DA is of the view that a new Chairperson of the JSC must be appointed for these interviews.

The DA also intends revisiting the entire process of appointments to the Bench, with a view to making recommendations to strengthen and improve the process, and also to revisit the roles of politicians on the JSC, who must be able to remove their political hats during this process.

For worthy candidates to be rejected for political reasons smacks of politicians trying to capture the judiciary for their own nefarious reasons. The judiciary must only ever serve the Constitution and the law and must remain above political agendas.

The country has already suffered immeasurable damage due to the ANC government’s policy of cadre deployment. The admission by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Zondo Commission that the ANC makes recommendations regarding appointments to the Bench, and then deploys its members to the JSC to ensure that those recommendations are followed through, is a matter that should concern all South Africans deeply. The judiciary must be protected against this devastating policy at all cost, and one way to do so would be the removal of politicians from the interview process.

South Africa needs capable and experienced judges who are beyond reproach to serve in all our courts, and not individuals who might be favoured for political reasons, or susceptible to political preferences.

Issued by Glynnis Breytenbach, DA Shadow Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, 17 August 2021