“At God's appointed time”. Against all odds, retired chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng believes he will one day become president of South Africa and beat politicians without participating in the polls.
Mogoeng started speaking publicly about his aspirations to become president last year, saying he believed it was his calling.
“It’s a calling upon my life. I don’t know how it is going to materialise. My response is to pray, which is why I’ve been telling people I’ll wait for the Lord to speak to me,” he said last September.
A year later, in an interview with eNCA at the weekend, Mogoeng again reiterated the sentiments and said he would become president without having to join a political party.
“He [God] doesn’t want it to happen through an electoral process. He doesn’t want me to join a political party or form any political party. It is going to be miraculous,” he said.
People on social media believed the former chief justice was “too ambitious” in his aspiration to become president without contesting.
Mogoeng said just like he became a Constitutional Court judge in 2009 amid criticism, he would again make many “eat humble pie”.
“It looked like a foolish thing when I made myself available for the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court. There was mockery all over the media that I was a preacher who knew nothing about the law. It got worse after my nomination for appointment for the position of chief justice. I was projected as this idiot and lapdog of [former] president Jacob Zuma who knew the Bible but knew nothing about the law. As it turned out they all ate humble pie because I had the full backing of the Almighty God,” he said.
WATCH | Mogoeng Mogoeng: ‘It sounds crazy but I am going to be the president’
Image: HALDEN KROG
“At God's appointed time”. Against all odds, retired chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng believes he will one day become president of South Africa and beat politicians without participating in the polls.
Mogoeng started speaking publicly about his aspirations to become president last year, saying he believed it was his calling.
“It’s a calling upon my life. I don’t know how it is going to materialise. My response is to pray, which is why I’ve been telling people I’ll wait for the Lord to speak to me,” he said last September.
A year later, in an interview with eNCA at the weekend, Mogoeng again reiterated the sentiments and said he would become president without having to join a political party.
“He [God] doesn’t want it to happen through an electoral process. He doesn’t want me to join a political party or form any political party. It is going to be miraculous,” he said.
People on social media believed the former chief justice was “too ambitious” in his aspiration to become president without contesting.
Mogoeng said just like he became a Constitutional Court judge in 2009 amid criticism, he would again make many “eat humble pie”.
“It looked like a foolish thing when I made myself available for the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court. There was mockery all over the media that I was a preacher who knew nothing about the law. It got worse after my nomination for appointment for the position of chief justice. I was projected as this idiot and lapdog of [former] president Jacob Zuma who knew the Bible but knew nothing about the law. As it turned out they all ate humble pie because I had the full backing of the Almighty God,” he said.
READER LETTER | ConCourt works without prejudice
Mogoeng said he did not have to run the race for the presidency like politicians. He said MPs might appoint him without campaigning.
“It sounds crazy, it sounds nonsensical, but I have seen how unlimited the power of this God is. You will be shocked. I am going to be president of this country at the appointed time. I do not know when, it may even be next month.”
TimesLIVE previously reported Mogoeng’s political ambitions could see him give up lifetime benefits if he steps aside from the judiciary for politics.
According to the Constitutional Court Mogoeng started his legal career as a temporary court interpreter and was appointed as a prosecutor in March 1986 in Mafikeng.
He went on to practise as an advocate in 1990 in Johannesburg and Mafikeng.
Mogoeng started working as a judge in 1997, a career that spanned more than 24 years. His biggest moves were in 2009 when he was appointed as a judge in the Constitutional Court and in 2011 when he became the chief justice.
TimesLIVE
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