Though not the most senior justice at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), Mahube Molemela assured the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) “without any hesitation” that she would command the respect of her colleagues if she were appointed to lead that court.
Molemela was being interviewed on Monday for president of SCA, the second highest court of appeal in South Africa. After the afternoon’s interviews, the JSC announced it would recommend her for the post.
The recommendation was expected. With the heads of the SCA and the Constitutional Court the view of the JSC is not binding — the president must, in terms of the constitution, consult the JSC but is not bound by its view. And though Molemela had some tough questions, her interview was, overall, a smooth one.
Her being relatively junior compared to some of her colleagues was the subject of an exchange with acting SCA president Xola Petse.
Molemela is the eighth most senior justice of the appeal court, but said, after her nomination, she had received congratulations and support from her colleagues, including her senior colleagues and retired justices of the appeal court.
To be elevated to leadership posts above more senior colleagues was “not unheard of” in the judiciary, she said, giving examples such as former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke, who was appointed to that post “ahead of some senior colleagues of the Constitutional Court”, former chief justice Arthur Chaskalson, who was appointed to that post without having acted at the apex court before, and Petse himself. All of them did excellent jobs, she said.
“And what would your answer be to those among us who think sometimes when you articulate your views you tend to be abrasive?” asked Petse. Molemela replied no-one had ever raised this with her, but the only instance she could think of was a meeting where “emotions ran very very high”.
Molemela did not say when this meeting had happened, but said it was about “the allocation of scribing duties, in terms of presiders not allocating scribing duties to certain colleagues”. She said if that was the incident Petse was referring to, she had been congratulated by some of her colleagues afterwards for having the courage to speak her mind.
“Sometimes when we are being brutally honest we might be accused of being abrasive,” she said.
Later, commissioner Kameshni Pillay SC said: “You are not the first outspoken woman in a professional space, and definitely not in the legal space, to be accused of being abrasive and I’m sure you won’t be the last.”
The allocation of judgments for writing at the SCA has come up before at the JSC, with it emerging that there was unhappiness among judges about how judgments were allocated by the senior justices. Molemela said former SCA president Mandisa Maya had intervened to ensure there was a more equitable distribution.
The practice is the president allocates cases to panels and the most senior judge on the panel, the presider, allocates a judge from the panel as the judgment scribe.
Molemela said another possible improvement she would make, as president, is to take the task of allocating scribing duties upon herself. This had been a suggestion by former chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng during an earlier JSC interview, she said.
The allocation of cases and scribing duties was one of seven points Molemela said she would improve on if appointed. Another was trying to improve the research capacity of the court. There were only six researchers shared by all the justices of the appeal court, which meant one researcher per four justices. This could be compared to the Constitutional Court where each justice had two researchers. It “is a problem”, she said.
Molemela, who was twice recommended for appointment to the Constitutional Court, also assured the commission she would remain at the SCA and not make herself available for the Constitutional Court if appointed.
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Molemela gets JSC nod for SCA president
The SCA judge says she is confident she will command the respect of her senior colleagues
Legal correspondent
Image: Supplied
Though not the most senior justice at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), Mahube Molemela assured the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) “without any hesitation” that she would command the respect of her colleagues if she were appointed to lead that court.
Molemela was being interviewed on Monday for president of SCA, the second highest court of appeal in South Africa. After the afternoon’s interviews, the JSC announced it would recommend her for the post.
The recommendation was expected. With the heads of the SCA and the Constitutional Court the view of the JSC is not binding — the president must, in terms of the constitution, consult the JSC but is not bound by its view. And though Molemela had some tough questions, her interview was, overall, a smooth one.
Her being relatively junior compared to some of her colleagues was the subject of an exchange with acting SCA president Xola Petse.
Molemela is the eighth most senior justice of the appeal court, but said, after her nomination, she had received congratulations and support from her colleagues, including her senior colleagues and retired justices of the appeal court.
To be elevated to leadership posts above more senior colleagues was “not unheard of” in the judiciary, she said, giving examples such as former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke, who was appointed to that post “ahead of some senior colleagues of the Constitutional Court”, former chief justice Arthur Chaskalson, who was appointed to that post without having acted at the apex court before, and Petse himself. All of them did excellent jobs, she said.
“And what would your answer be to those among us who think sometimes when you articulate your views you tend to be abrasive?” asked Petse. Molemela replied no-one had ever raised this with her, but the only instance she could think of was a meeting where “emotions ran very very high”.
Molemela did not say when this meeting had happened, but said it was about “the allocation of scribing duties, in terms of presiders not allocating scribing duties to certain colleagues”. She said if that was the incident Petse was referring to, she had been congratulated by some of her colleagues afterwards for having the courage to speak her mind.
“Sometimes when we are being brutally honest we might be accused of being abrasive,” she said.
Later, commissioner Kameshni Pillay SC said: “You are not the first outspoken woman in a professional space, and definitely not in the legal space, to be accused of being abrasive and I’m sure you won’t be the last.”
The allocation of judgments for writing at the SCA has come up before at the JSC, with it emerging that there was unhappiness among judges about how judgments were allocated by the senior justices. Molemela said former SCA president Mandisa Maya had intervened to ensure there was a more equitable distribution.
The practice is the president allocates cases to panels and the most senior judge on the panel, the presider, allocates a judge from the panel as the judgment scribe.
Molemela said another possible improvement she would make, as president, is to take the task of allocating scribing duties upon herself. This had been a suggestion by former chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng during an earlier JSC interview, she said.
The allocation of cases and scribing duties was one of seven points Molemela said she would improve on if appointed. Another was trying to improve the research capacity of the court. There were only six researchers shared by all the justices of the appeal court, which meant one researcher per four justices. This could be compared to the Constitutional Court where each justice had two researchers. It “is a problem”, she said.
Molemela, who was twice recommended for appointment to the Constitutional Court, also assured the commission she would remain at the SCA and not make herself available for the Constitutional Court if appointed.
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