By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) concluded its interviews to fill the three vacancies in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
JSC interviewed six candidates for three vacancies at the SCA on Monday, 13 April 2026.
One of candidates in the hot seat was KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) High Court judge Nkosinathi Chili, who has built a legal career spanning more than 30 years, starting as a court interpreter.
He has served as acting deputy judge president in the KZN High Court in 2023 and has also acted at the SCA in 2024 and 2025.
Chili previously failed to secure an appointment to this post in 2024.
He was grilled about two rulings of his which were still outstanding – one of which was on a matter heard almost eight months ago. Chili was questioned about two judgments of his that were reserved for months.
He is also known for presiding over high-profile cases, including the arms deal matter involving former statesman Jacob Zuma.
The JSC has resolved to advise the President to appoint the following three candidates:
Judge Thandi V Norman
Norman is a Judge of the Eastern Cape High Court Division.
Following her initial appointment to the Makhanda High Court in 2022, Judge Norman was appointed as a Judge of the Special Tribunal in November 2024 and has also acted as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on several occasions, amounting to approximately one year of service from December 2024 to the present. After only four years of judicial experience, Norman now seeks to be appointed to the SCA.
Norman began her career as a Public Prosecutor from 1988 to 1990. After being admitted as an advocate in 1992, she served in various roles before entering practice in 1997. In 2011, Norman obtained Silk Status (Senior Counsel), holding dual chambers in Johannesburg and Durban.
Judge Bashier Vally
Vally is a judge of the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg.
Despite presiding in the Johannesburg seat of the Gauteng High Court, Judge Vally was appointed as a Judge of the Competition Appeal Court from 2018 till April 2023, where he has remained as an Acting Judge after his five-year appointment came to an end. Previously, he has held various roles in both academic and legal spaces.
Judge Vally grew up in the Johannesburg township of Lenasia and obtained a BComm degree in industrial psychology from Wits University. Following university, Vally became involved in the Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union of South Africa as an “organiser, negotiator and educator”, which deepened his passion for labour law. This led to him completing an LLB from Wits in 1995.
Judge Leonie Windell
Windell is a judge of the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg.
Judge Windell’s judicial career challenges common assumptions about the transition from prosecutor to magistrate to superior court judge. She holds the rare distinction of being the only judge to have presided over two complex class action cases, an area that remains relatively novel in South African law.
Her career includes presiding over Various Parties v Anglo American (“the Kabwe case”), one of South Africa’s most complex class action matters. The case involved parents of child victims of lead poisoning seeking compensation from Anglo American for its mining operations in Zambia’s Kabwe district between 1906 and 1994.
JSC conducts interviews to fill various judicial vacancies in the Superior Courts from 13 to 17 April 2026. Tomorrow Aubrey Ledwaba will be on the hot seat for the position of the Judge President, the vacancy became available when Dustan Mlambo was appointed as the Acting Chief Justice.