It was clear from the beginning of the question and answer session that acting chief justice Raymond Zondo would be in for a tough ride as he was interviewed for the role of chief justice.

By 9pm, 12 hours after first taking his seat, Zondo admitted to being tired. He faced questions on his work at the commission of inquiry into state capture, transformation on the bench and alleged bias towards President Cyril Ramaphosa. 

But it was questions about whether justice minister Ronald Lamola had tried to improperly influence the appointment of acting judges at the Constitutional Court in favour of Judge Dunstan Mlambo that got temperatures high, leading to a shouting match between Lamola and commissioner Julius Malema.

Mlambo is also in the running for the position of chief justice and was interviewed on Thursday.

He told the commission he had recently been asked to act as a judge of the Constitutional Court, and was invited by Zondo. 

On Friday, Zondo revealed that Lamola had written to him, suggesting Mlambo be given an opportunity to act at the ConCourt as the nominations process was unfolding. 

The end result was a shouting match between Malema and Lamola. 

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