By October, South Africa’s Chief Justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng, will have finished his 12-year term at the helm of the Constitutional Court. How will his successor be selected, and what qualities are needed by the holder of this high office?
If there is no rule of law, brute force, random acts of violence and popular anarchy become the avenues for settling scores. In South Africa, the determination never to repeat the devastating legacies of apartheid resulted in “the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law” being enshrined as fundamental values, justiciable and enforceable by the courts.
If one branch of government fails in its regulatory role, an imbalance is created. In turn this means that other branches are subject to unjustified pressure. The level of such lawfare has subsided since President Cyril Ramaphosa came to power in February 2018, with one exception. Those whose abuse of power has been exposed through the Zondo Commission into state capture or through the investigative media have vilified the courts generally in public, or targeted specific judges for scandalous attack. This is the context in which a new Chief Justice will be appointed in South Africa later this year.