South Africa’s Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has recommended the appointment of Supreme Court of Appeal president Mandisa Maya as country’s new Chief Justice.
The commission said it would submit the name of Maya to President Cyril Ramaphosa to make the final decision following last week’s gruelling interviews of the four candidates who contested for the country’s highest judicial post.
The four candidates were Maya; Constitutional Court judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga; Gauteng High Court judge president Dunston Mlambo; and current Acting Chief Justice, Raymond Zondo.
According to the presidency, should Ramaphosa approve the recommendation, Maya would make history as South Africa’s first black African female to head the judiciary.
JSC Commissioner Dali Mpofu said the procedure was a challenging one brought on by the uniqueness of the process.
“What made our task difficult was that the candidates were all of a high quality, and the uniqueness of the process which was also unprecedented in so far as for the first time ever, the president nominated more than one candidate to be interviewed by the JSC,” Mpofu said.
The recommendation was the culmination of a process which kicked off in September last year when, in an unprecedented step, Ramaphosa invited public nominations for the position.
A panel convened to evaluate the nominations, then recommended at least eight names to the president for consideration – and the latter chose four candidates for consideration to the JSC and political parties.
NM/jn/APA