Johnathan Paoli
President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially nominated Judge Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya as the next Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa.
The position of Chief Justice will become vacant on 31 August 2024 when the term of office of Justice Raymond Zondo comes to an end, after he was appointed as a Justice of the Constitutional Court on 1 April 2022.
The president announced his decision on Tuesday and said that in terms of Section 174(3) of the Constitution he embarked on a process of consultation with the leaders of political parties represented in Parliament and the Judicial Service Commission.
Judge Maya currently serves as Deputy Chief Justice and has previously held the positions of Deputy President and President of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Ramaphosa said that he invited the leaders of political parties represented in the National Assembly to make submissions on the suitability or otherwise of Deputy Chief Justice Maya to hold the office and has drawn the attention of the leaders to Judge Maya’s illustrious judicial career, in which she was first appointed as a Judge of the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court in 2000.
She attained B.Proc (University of Transkei); LLB (University of Natal); and LLM (Duke University, North Carolina, United States of America) degrees as well as three LLD degrees (Honoraris) from the Universities of Fort Hare, Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela respectively.
In addition, Ramaphosa said that in terms of Section 174(3) of the Constitution, he consulted the Judicial Service Commission, chaired by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, and nominated Justice Dumisani Hamilton Zondi as Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Justice Zondi currently serves as a Justice of the SCA and the term of office of the Current Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Justice Xola Petse, will come to an end on 10 July 2024 when he attains the age of 70 and will be automatically discharged from office.
Justice Zondi holds a B. Juris from the University of Fort Hare, an LLB from the University of Natal, as well as an LLM from Georgetown University in the United States of America.
Following a successful career in practice, Justice Zondi was appointed to the Western Cape Bench in 2007, while in 2011, he became a Judge of the Competition Appeal Court, and was elevated to the SCA in June 2014.
Zondi was appointed as a Chairperson of the Electoral Court, two years ago, in 2022.
Ramaphosa has invited the JSC to make submissions on Justice Zondi’s suitability for the position for which he has been nominated, with their approval still to be determined.
Previously, the JSC recommended Maya as a replacement for former Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.
In addition, the JSC has brought forward by a month interviews to fill vacancies at the SCA under threat of legal action from Freedom Under Law (FUL).
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