The Judicial Service Commission will interview candidates for the two vacant positions at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday. The appointments will bring the apex court closer to having its full set of 11 permanent judges.

The constitution states that the Constitutional Court must consist of a chief justice, a deputy chief justice and nine other judges.

The use of acting judges was a practice of former chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, where in one case,  four acting judges heard the case about transparency in political party funding.

With the appointment of Raymond Zondo as chief justice effective from April 1, and the appointment of two judges to the court in January, the court now has a chief justice and seven permanent judges.

President Cyril Ramaphosa indicated last month when he appointed Zondo as chief justice he would nominate Supreme Court of Appeal president Mandisa Maya to be deputy chief justice.

If that were to happen, the court will have 11 justices as required by the constitution, all of them permanent.

Of the six candidates shortlisted for the interviews this week for the vacant Constitutional Court positions, four have been interviewed for the post before with varying results.

Gauteng high court judge David Unterhalter and advocate Alan Dodson SC were interviewed for the vacancies last year but were not recommended.

Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judge Mahube Molemela and Gauteng high court judge Fayeeza Kathree-Setiloane were among five judges recommended for the position during the interviews held in October last year.

However, Ramaphosa appointed judges Jody Kollapen and Rammaka Mathopo to fill the vacancies.

The constitution provides that the JSC must prepare a list of nominees for the Constitutional Court vacancies with three names more than the number of appointments to be made.

For SCA  judge Owen Rogers and Gauteng high court judge Elias Matojane, it will be the first time they are interviewed for the vacancy at the apex court.

Matojane had faced the JSC in April last year when he was interviewed for the position at the SCA. However, he was not recommended for the vacancy.

Apart from the interviews for the Constitutional Court vacancies, the JSC will also interview candidates for two vacancies in the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court, Gqeberha, a vacancy at the Free State Division of the High Court, three positions for the KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court, two vacancies in the Limpopo High Court, and vacancies for judge presidents in North West and KwaZulu-Natal.

Meanwhile, at its meeting held on Monday, the JSC considered its guidelines on the criteria used when considering candidates for judicial appointments.

These guidelines were  adopted in 1998 and updated in 2010. 

The JSC said it reaffirmed its commitment to the criteria as updated and will continue to apply it in the interviews scheduled from Tuesday.

“The JSC has tasked the rules committee to review the criteria to recommend to the JSC any amendments to expand and or supplement the criteria,” it said.

There have been concerns recently about the way the JSC conducts its interviews, which has sometimes led to interviews for judicial positions veering towards questions not designed to determine the candidates’ suitability for the position.

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