Opposition parties expressed regret on Thursday that Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke did not get the nod as next chief justice, but still welcomed President Jacob Zuma’s nomination of Sandile Ngcobo for the post.
Inkatha Freedom Party chief whip Koos van der Merwe said he was “very surprised that President Zuma did not nominate Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke for the post, because he is without doubt the most suitable candidate”.
The African Christian Democratic Party echoed the sentiment. Party leader Kenneth Meshoe added: “We believe what could have led to Masoneke not being appointed was his criticism of the ANC.”
Moseneke reportedly angered the ruling party when he remarked shortly before its watershed conference in Polokwane in 2007 that the future of the country did not lie with the delegates at the meeting — where Zuma won control of the ANC — but with the electorate.
Both the IFP and the ACDP nonetheless gave their support to Ngcobo, with the IFP saying it was glad that at least his nomination “eliminates the controversial Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe from the race”.
“We are confident that Judge Ngcobo will fulfil his duties as the new chief justice impeccably and we wish him success.”
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille reserved comment, saying as Zuma had to consult opposition leaders about his choice she would speak about it publicly only after talking to the president.
The ANC congratulated Ngcobo on his nomination and praised his human rights track record.
“His career as a lawyer was spent defending the most vulnerable people in our country,” the party said in a statement.
The party thanked Chief Justice Pius Langa, who retires in October, for the “dignified and diligent” manner in which he led the Constitutional Court.
“We wish him a well-deserved retirement.”
The ANC’s alliance partner the South African Communist Party said Ngcobo was “broadminded in his application of the law and yet at the same time passionate to find truth and or facts”.
Explaining his choice, Zuma said he had taken the decision “properly” and “objectively”.
“Ngcobo has more experience in that court [than Moseneke]. He has been there for a long time. He has very serious credentials in terms of his experience.
“The fact of the matter is that I have appointed a judge that I believe is capable,” said Zuma.
The Mail & Guardian reported last month that Ngcobo had become a firm favourite in the race to replace Langa as chief justice.
“Ever since the ANC launched a series of attacks on Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, who was previously seen as Langa’s likely successor, judges and legal commentators have privately suggested that Ngcobo is the most credible of the candidates who are politically palatable to President Jacob Zuma and the ANC,” the report states.
Ngcobo, a Fulbright scholar, was appointed to the Constitutional Court in 1999. The Judicial Service Commission had recommended then-Johannesburg High Court Judge Edwin Cameron, but Ngcobo controversially landed the job after the intervention of then-deputy president Thabo Mbeki.
Ngcobo was born in Durban in 1953 and completed his undergraduate BProc studies in 1975, obtaining distinctions in constitutional law, mercantile law and accounting.
He was admitted as an attorney six years later, after stints as a clerk and public prosecutor.
He spent a year in detention during the 1976 uprisings.
Between 1978 and 1982 Ngcobo worked for a law firm owned by Supreme Court of Appeal judge and electoral court head KK Mthiyane and later joined the Legal Resources Centre in Durban.
He has studied and practised in the United States, completing a certificate programme on the US legal system at Georgetown University in 1985, the same year he completed an LLB at the then-University of Natal. The following year he undertook an LLM at Harvard University.
Admitted as an advocate in 1988, he practised in both South Africa and the US until 1992.
The following year he served as a judge on the KwaZulu-Natal Industrial Court.
At the advent of South Africa’s democracy, Ngcobo served on the newly constituted Independent Electoral Commission. He later took his first permanent position on the Bench in the Cape Provincial Division in 1996, also serving in the labour court as acting judge president.
In addition, Ngcobo has lectured part-time at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
He is married to Zandile. They have a daughter, Nokwanda, and two sons, Ayanda and Manqoba.