Interviews for the position of South Africa’s Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court started yesterday with Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga facing questions; with the overarching theme being politics, attacks on the Constitutional Court and transformation of the Judiciary.
Madlanga said transformation was an issue closely related to socio-economic realities and the resources available to members of the South African society.
Madlanga stressed that someone who is not legally represented will not be able to marshal their case in the same manner as their opponent who is legally represented.
He said that if there were no resource constraints, there could be a way to try to make access to justice a reality.
“Yes it is so that on the criminal front, there is legal aid in South Africa which comes in automatically in criminal trials,but in the civil cases there is a needs test and the vast majority of South Africans do not qualify under that,” said Madlanga.
He said that someone who could be classified as poor could easily be said to be rich and fall out of the net.
Furthermore Madlanga said that transformation is not for transformation's sake rather it may not only be about having different colours or race but a person's outlook on life bringing something to the table.
On this front Madlanga was addressing the matter of an attack on the Judiciary juxtaposed to its critic.
He stressed the matter of content and also said that as a black person or a woman there may be perspectives or an idea that is different from a male or in a case a perspective or idea of a black person to someone that is white.
“A case can actually turn on those perspectives,” he said.
An avid advocate for women’s rights in the entire judicial system, Madlanga said there might be something women would see that perhaps a man would not.
He said that men have been brought up with an idea of patriarchy, misogyny and sexism which may bring about a certain idea about women.
On the idea of critic versus attack he told Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola where he reiterated a point which he’d made on content being the barometer on the subject.
“Because people are not aware of the source material or will not be able to interrogate it, it will just take it to the level that it has been said and igt is quite important who says it so the impact at a level that brings the Judiciary into disrupt in a manner that will adversely affect the rule of law,” he said.
He was also quizzed by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema on certain instances of criticism being considered an attack, such as the failure of the Constitutional Court delivering judgements on time and whether this would be considered an attack or criticism.
Madlanga said this would be considered constructive criticism following his detailing during his preface about the lack of resources in the judicial system.
Next will be the turn of the Judge President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Judge Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya, who will be in the firing line tomorrow for a position to head the apex court of the land.