By Lehlohonolo Lehana.

The African National Congress (ANC) has apologised for using an image of Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya on a campaign poster it shared on its social media pages.

The ANC was attempting to promote its work on transformation by showcasing how a woman is holding a position as senior as that occupied by Maya, but this saw the ANC being chastised by the highest office in the highest court in the land.

Chief Justice office said Maya is not a member of the ANC or any other party.

It said the move by the ANC has the potential to put the office into disrepute and undermine the integrity of the judiciary.

It also advised the ANC to ensure that the poster is removed from all online platforms where it has been published.

The party was instructed to remove the poster from all online platforms and to publicly apologise to Maya.

The ANC has since taken down the poster and publicly apologised on X, saying their intention was to celebrate transformation.

"The ANC regrets any offence caused to the deputy chief justice Mandisa Maya when a poster with her image was posted on our X page without her consent," the party said.

"We intended to celebrate the significant progress and transformation made in all areas of society, including the judiciary, where justice Maya is widely respected.

"The ANC unreservedly apologises to the DCJ on this oversight."

The ANC along with other political parties were on the charm offensive and in intense election campaign drive as the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) holds its first voter registration weekend.

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has warned against the use of Maya's image in one of the party's election campaign posters.

He was speaking to media after a visiting voting registration in Meadowlands, Soweto.

Ramaphosa says if it is true, it should not have happened. He says judges must be independent and not allow themselves to be dragged into party political issues.

"It shouldn't happen, judges are independent and judges must be given the respect and the position that is due to them to be the arbiters of the nation. And if you are the arbiter of the nation, you got to be given the independence and you have to act independently because you have the prestige and you have respect and that is why we should not drag them into party political issues. And they should also not allow to be dragged into party political issues and they should also not drag themselves into politics because we also cannot drag ourselves into judicial maters."