Quote of the week
Universal adult suffrage on a common voters roll is one of the foundational values of our entire constitutional order. The achievement of the franchise has historically been important both for the acquisition of the rights of full and effective citizenship by all South Africans regardless of race, and for the accomplishment of an all-embracing nationhood. The universality of the franchise is important not only for nationhood and democracy. The vote of each and every citizen is a badge of dignity and of personhood. Quite literally, it says that everybody counts. In a country of great disparities of wealth and power it declares that whoever we are, whether rich or poor, exalted or disgraced, we all belong to the same democratic South African nation; that our destinies are intertwined in a single interactive polity.
August and Another v Electoral Commission and Others (CCT8/99) [1999] ZACC 3
JSC announcement: judicial vacancies
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
JUDICIAL SERVICE COMMISSION
MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT
Judicial Vacancies
Meeting of the Judicial Service Commission 12-16 April 2010
The Judicial Service Commission invites nominations to fill vacancies as Judges in the following Courts:
(1) North and South Gauteng High Court
One vacancy (Deputy Judge President)
(2) North and South Gauteng High Court
Six vacancies
(3) Limpopo High Court ( formerly Venda High Court)
One vacancy
(4) KwaZulu–Natal High Court
One vacancy (Judge President)
Two vacancies (Judges)
(5) Western Cape High Court
Three vacancies
(6) Eastern Cape Division
One vacancy (Judge President)
Eastern Cape (Mthatha)
One vacancy
Eastern Cape (Grahamstown)
Three vacancies
Eastern Cape (Port Elizabeth)
One vacancy
(7) North West High Court
One vacancy (Judge President)
(8) Labour Appeal Court
Six vacancies
(9) Labour Court
Three vacancies
(10) Labour Appeal Court and Labour Court
One vacancy (Judge President)
Nominations must be accompanied by the nominee’s written consent and the standard questionnaire completed and signed by the nominee.
If any judicial vacancy arises between the date of this notice and the dates on which candidates are interviewed, the Judicial Service Commission may, after the interviews, fill such vacancy if it considers that suitable candidates are available. This is to avoid the situation which has arisen in the past when, despite the availability of suitable candidates, no appointments could be made to fill vacancies which had occurred subsequent to the notice calling for nominations. Consequently, in making nominations, regard should be had to the possibility that more judicial vacancies may occur than have been advertised.
I wish to emphasize the following points:
1. Interviews with short-listed candidates will be conducted in public, i.e. members of the public and the media will be entitled to be present.
2. It is open to persons or bodies nominating candidates to motivate their nominations by referring the Commission to the candidate’s qualifications and general fitness for appointment.
3. The questionnaire must be accompanied by the standardised “clearance certificate” which the candidate is required to obtain from his/her professional body regarding the candidate’s professional status within that body, his or her suitability for appointment to the Bench and the nature of any disciplinary proceedings completed or pending in respect of the relevant candidate.
4. Nominations must be addressed to and reach the Secretary of the Commission not later than Friday 05 February 2010 at 16h00.
The meeting of the Judicial Service Commission and the interviewing of shortlisted candidates has been scheduled to take place at the Twelve Apostles Hotel, Cape Town from 12-16 April 2010.
Applications must be addressed to:
Ms. Vuyelwa Masangwana
Constitutional Court
Private Bag X1
Constitution Hill
Braamfontein
Johannesburg
2017
Tel: (011) 359 7570/7537
Fax: (011) 403 5964
Fax2Email: 086 649 0944
____________________________________
S S Ngcobo
Chief Justice of South Africa
Chairperson: Judicial Service Commission
