By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former president Jacob Zuma has asked the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to review and set aside the appointment of Raymond Zondo as Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
Zuma launched an application on 26 September seeking relief to declare the conduct of the president in appointing Zondo to be unconstitutional and to set aside the decision to appoint him.
The Jacob Zuma foundation released a statement on Tuesday evening indicating that President Cyril Ramaphosa filed his notice to oppose on September 26, while the Judicial Service Commission filed a notice to abide by any decision that the court will make.
Zuma sent a letter to Ramaphosa in May, demanding the removal of Zondo as the country’s chief justice.
Zondo was appointed as head of the judiciary in April 2022 after consultations with the Judicial Service Commission and leaders of parties in the National Assembly.
He was up against three other nominees, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, Justice Mandisa Maya, and Justice Dunstan Mlambo.
Zuma believes Ramaphosa was irrational when he appointed Zondo to his current position.
Zuma previously called on Zondo to recuse himself as chair of state capture commission , shortly after the commission chair wanted to subpoena Zuma to appear following a series of no-shows.
Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi says the next step in the process will be the compulsory provision of the record of the proceedings and deliberations of the JSC’s recommendations and the president’s decision.
“According to publicly available evidence, the current Chief Justice scored the lowest number of votes from the JSC following the week-long interviews.
“Yet Ramaphosa acted irrationally in ignoring the advice of the JSC and appointing him despite being effectively declared as unsuitable for the position and the poor showing he made at the public interview.
“The applicants and the public will surely look forward to what legal justification Ramaphosa will give for his decision when he files his answering affidavit,” said Manyi.
Manyi said Ramaphosa also needs to dispel suspicions that Zondo was being unduly rewarded for absolving him of his role in the BOSASA/CR17 scandal.
“He must also explain why he overlooked a woman candidate when she had, in any event, received the highest votes. Such conduct is in breach of the equality clause (section 9 of the Constitution) and section 174(2) of the Constitution, both of which prohibit gender discrimination.”
The JSC last year recommended Maya, then Supreme Court of Appeal president, for the chief justice post, overlooking Zondo. But Ramaphosa appointed Zondo on 1 April 2022 and Maya as his deputy on 1 September 2022.