I hadn’t realised until I read it on Friday that from Monday Raymond Zondo will no longer be our chief justice. Apart from the fact that he seems impossibly young, there’s been something deeply reassuring about having him in office.
Anyone who watched even a few minutes of the inquiry into state capture that he led — first as deputy chief justice to Mogoeng Mogoeng and then as chief justice — would instantly recognise not only his voice but the unbelievably, almost theatrical, slow pace of his speech.
Every word was individually selected and then balanced and then released. His defence of our democracy has been quietly brilliant and his ability to absorb insults and pressure should stand as a model to anyone in public life. I am so sorry to see him go.
President Cyril Ramaphosa named his successor on Thursday. Mandisa Maya, Zondo’s deputy, is the first woman to become chief justice. It is not her doing that she is female and also black, but in this country both still matter and her appointment has been widely applauded.
The ANC was ecstatic: “Through upholding the principles of judicial independence and integrity,” it said, “the deputy chief justice has played a crucial role in maintaining the credibility and trust in the judiciary.”
A picky editor would want to ask how, exactly, has she thus far been so crucial. Her standout judicial moment came as president of the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2020 when she not only ruled in favour of an appeal brought by AfriForum against an attempt by Unisa to drop Afrikaans as a language of instruction, but she simultaneously translated her judgment into isiXhosa.
She can clearly pick a moment, though by many accounts she is a solid but unremarkable jurist. We will soon find out. As chief justice she will also become chair of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), and it was while watching the JSC hearings into the appointment of a new chief justice in early 2022 that I first heard her speak.
I had tuned into the hearing, where the JSC interviews prospective judges for various posts, because I wanted to watch Dunstan Mlambo, judge president in Gauteng, go through his paces. I’m a big fan of Mlambo, a stiff-jawed figure of huge integrity who runs easily the most difficult and complex court in the country and who drives its efficiency.
As memories about the events that had made her appointment possible in the first place have faded, it is easy to forget now how Mpofu and Malema went in to bat for her and won
Up early to interview Mlambo that February morning was Dali Mpofu. He started with some easy banter, but then he stunned Mlambo with an attack so vile I am surprised he is still able to practise law in this country. Aided by EFF leader Julius Malema, Mpofu wondered aloud what Mlambo might think of rumours that he, Mlambo, was being accused of sexual harassment.
From the moment Mpofu dropped his slur, Mlambo’s pitch for chief justice was done for good. My friend Justice Malala put it perfectly at the time: “On Thursday we saw a candidate ... Dunstan Mlambo, face a co-ordinated smear campaign by JSC commissioners Julius Malema and Dali Mpofu, who confronted him with rumours and innuendo that he was guilty of sexual harassment of potential judges. No evidence was proffered. No victims. No facts. There was no-one who alleged sexual harassment against the man. The entire thing was vile; it was criminal; it was the worst of our politics. The JSC was hijacked to end a man’s 34-year career.”
Not surprisingly, Ramaphosa backed off from his support for Mlambo. The JSC, whose chair, Xola Petse, was Maya’s deputy at the Supreme Court at the time, had made no effort at all to stop the slander. Neither did any of the judges being heard, including Maya, stand up for him or at least object to the tone of the proceedings.
The JSC then recommended that Maya be appointed chief justice. Ramaphosa, who understood exactly what had happened, demurred, but only a little. Zondo, he decided, would become chief justice for the next two years. A few months later he appointed Maya deputy CJ, and she was always going to be the boss. As memories about the events that had made her appointment possible in the first place have faded, it is easy to forget now how Mpofu and Malema went in to bat for her and won.
No fingers were ever pointed at Maya herself but a rumour about Mlambo and harassment. It was never more than a faint whiff and it vanished the moment it had served its purpose. Its genesis, I’m assured by senior jurists I have spoken to over the years, was one or more judges in Maya’s own Supreme Court.
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