A dearth of candidates has repeatedly left the Judicial Service Commission unable to fill a post created by the retirement of Justice Sisi Khampepe
The deputy chief justice also called for the court to be allowed to sit in panels and for full administrative and financial independence for the judiciary
The interviews were brought forward after Freedom Under Law warned that the commission was breaching a high court order by scheduling these for June
The failure by the Judicial Service Commission, an organisation chaired by the chief justice, risked undermining respect for the rule of law, the group said
The presence of democratically elected leaders in the Judicial Service Commission is critical
With only three candidates shortlisted, the JSC will again not be able to fill a vacancy that arose at the constitutional court in late 2021
The well-respected Western Cape high court judge was named after the April interviews where the JSC overlooked David Unterhalter a third time
The fraught interview carried an echo of the controversy over former chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng’s religious pronoucements after members of the JSC cited extracts from Madondo’s writings on the biblical view on homosexuality
His third unsuccessful candidacy raises the spectre of a legal review and case law dictates that the JSC can be compelled to give reasons for failing to appoint a qualified candidate
The esteemed jurist had to apologise for failing to recuse himself on an application for leave to appeal to the constitutional court, sinking his hopes of a permanent position at the court
In interviews with candidates for the constitutional court, issues of race, gender and transformation featured but did not crowd out questions on points of law
The acting chief justice suggested, in his interview with the Judicial Service Commission for the post of chief justice, that the next round of interviews in April with candidates would be an opportunity to do so
The acting chief justice acknowledged calls for reform after the recent forced rerun of interviews for aspirant apex court judges
The sense that the commissioners who nominated five candidates for appointment to the Constitutional Court voted for their constituencies, rather than with their conscience, is difficult to shake off.
The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution again has reservations about how the JSC selected the five names forwarded to the president, after it forced a repeat of interviews first held in April
Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo protected the integrity of the process after it descended into politicking in April
Judges Fayeeza Kathree-Setiloane, Jody Kollapen and Bashier Vally complete the list, while Dhaya Pillay fails to make the cut