In the run up to the ANC Polokwane conference in December 2007, Jacob Zuma’s fervent supporters demanded that as deputy president of the ANC he was Thabo Mbeki’s natural successor. The ANC constitution is silent on succession but it has been accepted practice that the deputy is the natural successor. Zuma had criss-crossed the country moaning to anyone who cared to listen that there was a conspiracy to prevent him from being president. There was a sense of entitlement on Zuma’s part and he saw himself as the anointed one! Polokwane came and went and Zuma became president despite serious allegations of corruption hanging over his head.
There has been a concerted effort by Cape Judge President John Hlophe’s supporters to see him appointed as the successor to outgoing Chief Justice Pius Langa. Hlophe appears to have adopted the absurd yet successful Zuma strategy of claiming there is a conspiracy against him in order to draw on the sympathies of those who may be persuaded he is being treated unfairly. Hlophe is a controversial character and that alone should be enough to disqualify him as a judge, never mind his aspirations to be chief justice. The position of judge should be occupied by a person of unquestionable integrity and standing.
The farcical “nomination” of Justice Sandile Ngcobo was a welcome relief to many who did not want Hlophe. Hlophe in 2005 was accused of having said that he allocated an Afrikaans language-rights case to senior Cape High Court Judge Wilfred Thring “because I knew he would fuck up the trial and then it could be set right on appeal”. He was further accused of calling a Cape Town attorney, Joshua Greeff, a “piece of white shit who is not fit to walk in the corridors of the high court”. And we all know of the Oasis scandal!
The president is enjoined by the Constitution to appoint the chief justice and it is not inconceivable that Zuma may appoint Hlophe as chief justice to succeed Ngcobo after two years when his term ends. Zuma’s appointments should be viewed in the context of untested allegations of corruption against him. He has already ensured that other law-enforcement agencies are headed by his sycophants, from the ministry of police and national police commissioner, to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (The Hawks) and the minister of justice. It is expected that he is determined to appoint yet another apologist and sympathiser to head the National Prosecuting Authority.
The Minister of Justice Jeff Radebe has been tasked with driving transformation in the judiciary, which we can read to mean the further appointment of judges who are sympathetic to Zuma and the ANC. Therefore the appointment of Hlophe as chief justice in two years’ time would be in line with the ANC agenda to ensure that no criminal charges are ever visited upon Zuma when he leaves office. Ngcobo, though a respected judge with an outstanding track record, may be viewed with some suspicion given his dissenting judgment in the matter relating to Zuma and Thint. Of the 11 Constitutional Court judges, he was the only one to rule in Zuma’s favour. This raises the question of whether there had been any other considerations for arriving at such a completely different determination to the other judges. It is quite a coincidence that the same judge who ruled in Zuma’s favour would be the “nominee” for the position of chief justice.
The logical person to succeed Chief Justice Pius Langa is Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke who has occupied this position since 2005. Moseneke is a man of incontrovertible integrity and has upheld the principle of justice and respected the position he holds as a judge and deputy chief justice of the Constitutional Court. He is not viewed with much adoration by Zuma’s henchmen from Luthuli House precisely because of his independence and integrity. At his 60th birthday before the ANC Polokwane conference he was reported to have remarked: “I chose this job very carefully. I have another 10 to 12 years on the bench and I want to use my energy to help create an equal society. It’s not what the ANC wants or what the delegates want; it is about what is good for our people.”
He was vilified by the ANC, ANCYL and Cosatu for honestly expressing what should be guiding a person occupying such a position as his in the judiciary — independence and pursuit of justice. The ANC national working committee, which Zuma is part of, came out with guns blazing and accused Moseneke of showing disdain for the ANC delegates at the conference and that his statement highlighted “the difficulty that many in the judiciary appear to have in shedding their historical leanings and political orientation”.
It appears that Moseneke’s cardinal sin was to be a man of honour and integrity, a guardian of equitable justice and that may certainly count against him. Zuma should in fact appoint him as chief justice precisely because he is impartial. Zuma should apply the same principle he invoked to have himself elected as president of the ANC. Tradition dictates that the deputy chief justice succeeds the chief justice.
Though Zuma is quoted as saying he had “appointed” Ngcobo as chief justice, which would have been unconstitutional as due process in terms of the Constitution had not been followed, he has subsequently denied having made an “appointment”. Interestingly, the ANC immediately released a statement congratulating Ngcobo on his appointment. It may be a forgone conclusion that Ngcobo will be the next chief justice but it is not late for sense at Luthuli House, which now appears to be the seat of government, to prevail.
There is a strong case for Moseneke to be chief justice and he should if the Constitutional Court is to maintain the trust and respect it enjoys from the public.
” It may be a forgone conclusion that Ngcobo will be the next chief justice but – - -
it is not late for sense at Luthuli House, which now appears to be the seat of government, to prevail……..”
Yes and we will freeze this summer as the pigs fly away!
Pity you spoilt a good article with that conclusion.
S.D my observation is that you hate the ANC under JZ’s presidency with a passion, something that you did not display under TM’s reign.
I sense that you will not appreciate any appointment by JZ, in cases where you did not find any fault with the appointees you were silent.
Looking at Hon.Judge Ngcobo’s impressive academic qualifications as well as his track record I felt that he is a good appointment.
what a carefully crafted and brilliant riposte to the questionable decision of the President to nominate Judge Ngcobo to the highest office on the Bench, coupled with a strong rebuke to the ambitious Judge Hlophe and his questionable ethics.
Unfortunately thoughts and views expressed by Sentletse appear neither to make sense nor supported by the rank and file of the majority of our populace, who have abandoned their capacity for independent thought in exchange for minds that are syncophatic to populists.
Now we will never have a chief justice in the person and calibre of Judge Dikgang Moseneke.
Sentletse, Sentletse, don’t you get tired of this anti-Zuma diatribes that you publish week after week! The hon. Sandile Ngcobo will be the next chief justice whether you in COPE want Moseneke to slip through the back door or not. COPE is another irrellevant party like the DA and the President will not be guided by minority viewpoints. Indeed we cant wait for the hon. Hlophe to take over the chief justice role in a few years from justice Ngcobo.
Once again you post an article riddled with inconsistencies and flimsy arguments. A simple example: You argue that Hlophe is a controversial character and therefore should not be Chief Justice, and I agree with you there. However you go on to say that Moseneke is “a man of honour and integrity, a guardian of equitable justice.” You don’t stop there but you call him “ impartial.” It baffles me how you can attach all these adjectives to him despite the remarks he made against the ANC at his birthday party. It would appear to me that by virtue of his remarks, he is also controversial, and certainly not “impartial.” By your logic, he is equally unfit to be Chief Justice. There are many others inconsistencies that I don’t have the time to point out.
Why was Gill Marcus accepted without a fight for Tito’s deputy to become the governor’s.
Just asking?
I am waiting for the response.
I have never heard of Justice Moseneke, but you pose a very stong case for him.
What does concern me though is the surprise at the manner in which appointments are beign handled of late. We know that politicians are privy to personal appointments and the campaign that Zuma adn the ANC ran could not have produced a system any different. It’s to be expect; sad but to be expect.
I wonder what percentage of the population that voted ANC in the recent election are literate and informed? The trouble with democracy in Africa is that the people who contribute the least to the economy and to the country make the greatest demands on the state coffers and then we get the comment from “BONGO”, that says that the other parties in the election are irrelevant?
The ruling party promised the earth to their supporters, and their supporters believed them “again” so the show goes on. If you have nothing whow would you vote for? A man who offers you a house, or one tells you that you cannot have a house at this time?
When income tax and taxes were first invented by a Frenchman named The Marquise De Marbant, it went like this:- “No Representation Without Taxation” which:- In other words means that those who work and grow the country should rule it. Some may argue that everyone pays Vat but that is not the main source of Revenue Services.
Zuma promised all sorts of things knowing full well that he could not deliver but then he was looking for votes, not looking to supply that which he knew he could not supply.
Now we hear that the government represents the majority of the people and all else are not relevant?
It is probably that the ‘opposition parties’ represent the educated, the informed and the major tax payers.
It is indeed disappointing to learn that Deputy Chief Justice “MoAfrika” Dikgang Moseneke has been overlooked by President JZ. He would rather appoint DA & FF members in positions of authority than appointing “Son of the Soil” an Africanist who would, without a doubt, ensure that transformation in the judiciary is realized.
Clearly we are in a Neo-Colonial order under this anc lead government, which does not want an equal society, rather the BBBEE for cronies and politically connected individuals.
When will this peole stop appointing people based on tribal, political and loyalty cards. This is as a result of them abandoning the Africanist Nation Building Liberatory Project and opting for the easy way out, to “sell out”.
We are far from realising Freedom in Africa.
IzweLethu IAfrika
Leaga Lesufi
Pan Africanist Youth Congress of Azania
The only people who will find fault with your thesis are those who stand to benefit from the banana republic that the ANC is turning our beloved country into.
@ Old, female, paleface – Very right. Sense and the Luthuli House are oil and water.
A well-written article swathed in bias and a flawed premise. As you so correctly pointed out ‘natural succession’ has become a tradition in the ANC but what we are dealing with here is not a political party with its own private dynamics but the highest court in the land, tasked with protecting the constitution. There is no room for ‘logical’ and natural successors. The best man for the job must be found, being Deputy does not entitle one to the position. You’ve told us everything that makes DC Justice Moseneke a good candidate but nothing on why Justice Ngcobo is not. Is it perhaps because he also has ‘upheld the principles of justice and respected the position he holds as a judge’? Truth be told Ngcobo is an excellent candidate, on par and perhaps even better than Moseneke. Your support for the latter seems to stem from your shared, hostile feelings towards the ruling party. The CJ should be above politics.
I give up on you. Please just be objective when you write your article and not sure any partisan in your tone.
“I chose this job very carefully. I have another 10 to 12 years on the bench and I want to use my energy to help create an equal society. It’s not what the ANC wants or what the delegates want; it is about what is good for our people.”
Was this not a political statement by Moseneke????
Sentletse
You Shikota!!!!!!!!!
CJ Pius Langa’s interview with M&G:
He also said that no convention has ever been in place at the Constitutional Court that would have seen his current deputy, Dikgang Moseneke, succeed him as he succeeded Chaskalson.
“I can’t say there has been a convention. I was deputy chief justice and it pleased the president [Thabo Mbeki] then to nominate me as the next chief justice, but I did not think there was that entitlement; the Constitution does not create that entitlement.
Your naive utterances are not surprising especially from prophets of doom and gloom like you. You and your unguided COPE tried to mislead South Africans before and during the April elections and you failed brouhaha and furore. What you are doing now is the last kick of a dying horse. Of course we also understand that your role as minority opposition is to blindly oppose everything that the ANC government does without scientific and proper analysis. It is indeed veracious that anger is the enemy of logic. Whether you like it or not, Jacob Zuma does not need your approval to appoint a judge of the supreme court. If you have issues with judge Ncgobo, that’s your own babe to feed. The masses of our people know better and they can never be fooled by distorted opinions masqueraded as facts in forums of this nature. Hands off Jacob Zuma hands off!!!
Good article.
@ Revolutionary Warrior:
Of course that was a political statement by Moseneke, and it clearly showed his LACK of bias. His decisions will be based on whats good for the people, not whats good for the ANC (or any other party).
Hlope is indeed a joke, sad that his fans find him to be ‘the finest African brain available for the job’..