Why the next chief justice should be a woman: Ramaphosa has an opportunity to do better than his predecessors by not further perpetuating the gender divide in our judiciary
The debate regarding the appointment of South Africa’s next chief justice is necessary and should be encouraged. Everyone in South Africa should express their view as to who they believe should be the next chief justice or on the criteria that PresidentThe extent to which the debate will influence the president is not clear.
Section 174 of the constitution requires the president to make judicial appointments that reflect the racial and gender composition of South Africa. The president is also required to consult the chief justice and leaders of political parties represented in parliament when appointing judges. The Judicial Service Commission is constitutionally mandated to “prepare” a list of nominees with three names more than the number of appointments, from which the president will make his appointments ).
Ramaphosa is faced with the task of appointing the next chief justice following the retirement of the former chief justice,. To promote and encourage public participation, Ramaphosa decided to include the public in this process. Members of the public were required to nominate their preferred candidates to be “assessed and scrutinised” by a panel established by the president.
I should not, however, be misunderstood as arguing that she is not worthy or competent to be appointed chief justice. I am also of the view that out of all the nominated male candidates, Western Capealso does not stand a chance of being appointed, despite having all the attributes that are needed for the post. I have no doubt that Ramaphosa will try to avoid the noise that will likely erupt with the appointment of Hlophe.
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