By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Judicial Services Commission (JSC) nominated five candidates for two vacant Constitutional Court positions, following a week of rigorous interviews.
JSC has interviews scheduled for the next two weeks for the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), the labour court and high courts.
The commission interviewed six candidates for two vacancies at the top court on Tuesday and Wednesday. Only five got the nod.
These are judges Nambitha Dambuza, Glen Goosen, Kate Savage and Ashton Schippers, as well as advocate Alan Dodson SC.
The only candidate whose name was omitted from the referral list, is that of Dr Madumetja Malepe who was grilled this week regarding allegations of stolen church funds, debt concerns, and her academic credibility.
Malepe was applying for a spot on the Constitutional Court not as a practising advocate or judge but as an academic, which is permissible, but has been rare for Constitutional Court applicants in recent years.
The fact that Malepe had no experience as an acting judge was always going to count against her — but as her interview unfolded, one was left wondering how she was shortlisted at all.
It emerged that Malepe, who has spent 25 years at the University of Venda, had published just two journal articles in her entire academic career, and even these were not in accredited journals.
In terms of the Constitution, the president must now consult Chief Justice Mandisa Maya and political leaders in parliament before appointing the two new ConCourt justices.
The JSC has started interviewing six candidates from the high courts across the country to fill a single vacant seat in the SCA. They are judges Gerald Bloem, Mongere Masipa, Pitso Molitsoane, Thandi Norman, Bashier Vally and Leonie Windell. They have all served as acting judges in the SCA.
The round of interviews are expected to run until 15 October, with candidates applying for various high court and labour court vacancies starting on Thursday.