Zuma’s office clears air on judge snub

President Jacob Zuma’s office has confirmed that Judge Dawid van Zyl was rejected for the appointment of deputy judge-president of the Bhisho and East London high courts after it received a complaint from a firm of attorneys outside the deadline for submissions.

Van Zyl has been left in the dark about the reason his name was left off a list of appointments announced by Zuma shortly before Christmas, after being recommended for the job by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC).

Although Zuma has the prerogative to accept or reject JSC recommendations for the appointment of judges, legal circles have been abuzz over the Presidency’s handling of the matter.

One legal practitioner who spoke on condition of anonymity pointed to the complaint being submitted outside of the stipulated time-frames, while another suggested that by accepting a complaint directly, Zuma was effectively usurping the JSC’s role.

Concern was also raised that Van Zyl had not been given an opportunity to respond to the complaint.

Presidency spokesman Bongani Majola provided no further details about the complaint, which the Daily Dispatch reported last week was believed to emanate from an Mthatha law firm.

Majola said the letter of complaint was dated October 28 last year, about three weeks after the JSC wrapped up interviews for vacant posts on October 9.

JSC spokesman Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza SC last week expressed concern that the complaint had not been submitted to the JSC directly before the interview, so that Van Zyl could have been questioned on the substance of the complaint.

“If the complaint had been with us we would have dealt with it,” he said.

Majola said the Presidency had not referred to the controversy surrounding Van Zyl’s position in its December 17 statement because the JSC had not formally been informed of the development at that stage.

“The JSC must consider the matter and advise the president accordingly,” he said.