South Africa’s Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has recommended the appointment of Supreme Court of Appeal judge Dumisani Zondi as the new chairperson of the country’s electoral court, APA leant on Thursday.
Zondi has been acting as electoral court chair since August, a credential that gave him an advantage in the competition for the post over fellow Supreme Court of Appeal justice Baratang Mocumie.
The latter would have been the only woman to head a court in South Africa had she been appointed, according to the commission.
The court’s task is, among other things, to review election-related decisions taken by the electoral commission.
With independent electoral candidates allowed to run for election for the first time after a judgment of the Constitutional Court, it is expected that there will be new and possibly tricky areas of dispute that will require adjudication.
The court has five judges, two of whom are not drawn from the judiciary.
Zondi said he would scrap this and have all members of the court drawn from the judiciary.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is the final appointing authority following the JSC’s decision.
NM/jn/APA