Dr. Pieter Mulder, FF Plus leader writes; “As leader of the Freedom Front Plus, I sent a letter to President Zuma on 24 August 2011, in which I stated my opinion of the possible appointment of judge Mogoeng Mogoeng as South Africa’s new chief justice. With the appointment of a new chief justice in mind, the FF Plus requested president Zuma to, apart from judge Mogoeng Mogoeng, provide us with more names for consideration,” Dr. Pieter Mulder, Leader of the Freedom Front Plus said.
The FF Plus unanimously came to the conclusion that it is not fair toward Judge Mogoeng Mogoeng to criticise him without an alternative choice being clear. If the president provides us with more names of candidates for consideration for the position of chief justice, a fair and objective evaluation of the candidates could be undertaken.
“The fact that the president had only proposed one name raises the question as to whether he would be prepared to consider alternative candidates if opposition parties do not find the nomination of judge Mogoeng acceptable. By proposing more names for consideration, it would help to give greater clarity of the role of opposition leaders and of the Judicial Service Commission in the appointment process of a chief justice as prescribed in Section 174(3) of the Constitution,” Dr. Mulder said.
The recent comments of Mr. Mantashe and other ANC leaders about judges who are “anti-revolutionary” and that the Constitutional Court is becoming an opposition to the ANC and Parliament, sets the alarm bells off. He specifically referred to the Glenister/Scorpions judgement and the judgement in the extension of the term of the chief justice.
In a healthy democracy there should be tension between the legislative, executive and judicial authorities. Without this tension the independence of the Constitution is seriously threatened. Some of these comments are strong reminders of the previous government’s comments in the fifties when there had also been a clash between the government and the highest courts. All of these developments in recent times make it necessary to give extra thorough consideration this time to the appointment of a chief justice.
