By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
After two days of ten interviews, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has opted to only recommend two candidates for appointment to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
They are Gauteng High Court Judge Fayeeza Kathree-Setiloane and Mpumalanga Judge Maleshane Kgoele.
This still leaves two vacancies in the country’s appellate court.
Seasoned High Court Judge Kathree-Setiloane has previously been shortlisted for the Constitutional Court but was not appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
This time around, she told the JSC she no longer had aspirations for the country’s top court and after acting stints in the SCA, wants to be appointed there permanently.
On Wednesday, JSC recommended Johannesburg high court judge Edwin Molahlehi to fill the long-vacant position of Deputy Judge President of both the Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court. The position has remained unoccupied for a staggering seven years.
Molahlehi emerged as the only candidate interviewed for this pivotal role and was recommended by the JSC on Wednesday.
Currently serving as a judge of the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, Molahlehi’s holds extensive legal experience.
Before his tenure at the Gauteng High Court commenced in 2017, Molahlehi dedicated nearly a decade of service as a judge in the Labour Court.
Molahlehi’s legal journey began in 2000, when he assumed the role of director for the Department of Labour’s Employment Conditions Commission. Notably, he also held a key role as an acting judge in the Labour Court during this time.
However, he would be drawn to politics and government administration, becoming the first Executive Mayor of the new West Rand District municipality, which covered his hometown of Kagiso in Krugersdorp.
He left politics and returned to the labour dispute resolution domain in 2003. He held pivotal positions, including director of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) and mediator roles in various dispute resolution panels.
The significant turning point in his career came in 2007, when he was appointed as a judge of the Labour Court.
As a judge, he wrote several judgment’s, including cases with corporate giants like telecoms company Vodacom in Vodacom vs National Commissioner: SAPS, and political giants like the president and former secretary general of the African National Congress in Magashule vs Ramaphosa.
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Video Courtesy of JRSA.