Judges head list for Public Protector post
Two High Court judges have emerged as front-runners to become the next Public Protector in October when Thuli Madonsela leaves office, according to a Business Day assessment of this week’s meeting of Parliament’s special committee, which reduced a list of 64 nominees to 14. It says ANC MP Bongani Bongo got the ball rolling by nominating Western Cape High Court Judge Siraj Desai and Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) Judge Sharise Weiner to head the short-list. The DA’s James Selfe objected to Desai’s inclusion, arguing he had a record of highly political judgments, in one of which he ruled for the ANC and against the DA. Committee chair Makhosi Khoza said that if there was any impropriety on the part of Desai then he would not be a sitting judge. Weiner was added to the list wit hout any objections. Given the ANC majority on the committee the early nomination of Desai gives him a significant chance of succeeding Madonsela, suggests the Business Day report.
The candidates will be interviewed on 11 August, notes a News24 report. The 14 short-listed are: Judge Siraj Desai, Judge Sharise Weiner, Advocate Kevin Malunga, Advocate Willie Hofmeyr, Professor Bongani Majola, Advocate MT Goodman, Professor Narnia Bohler-Muller, Mushing Lukhaimane, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, Advocate Chris Madibeng Mokoditwa, Advocate Nonkosi Princess Cetywayo, Mhlaliseni Mthembu, Jill Oliphant, Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh. No MPs, current or former, made the list. All short-listed candidates will be interviewed on the same day, to avoid them watching the interviews live on TV.
The final 14 will come under even more scrutiny now. Corruption Watch’s David Lewis said the public participation was far from over, although, so far, the process had been run very openly and transparently. According to a News24 report, he said Corruption Watch would do further investigations into the various candidates. Last week it vetted some of the candidates' professional and personal conduct, as well as their CVs, and provided a 114-page document to the committee. ‘We are going to look much more deeply now at the 14 short-listed candidates,’ Lewis said. He said the public could still get involved. The interviews would be televised and they would make sure the public knew exactly who the people on the sho rt-list were. When the final candidate was presented to the National Assembly in August, they would also be putting up an app which would allow people in the public to vote, Lewis added.
A Daily Maverick report runs a fine toothcomb over the final 14, and notes at least two candidates stand out for their State Security Agency (SSA) experience. This was declared in the questionnaire all nominated persons submitted alongside their CV, and reportedly seen by the DM. Both those nominations were made by opposition parties, it says. The DA proposed Muvhango Antoinette Lukhaimane, the Pension Funds Adjudicator since July 2013, who previously spent seven years within the SSA as research and human resources manager and chair of the Intelligence Services Council. That SSA stint came after five years in various legal capacities at three pension funds, including that of power utility Eskom. The IFP nominated Busisiwe Joyce Mkhwebane, an SSA analyst since 1 July, who previously worked for Home Affairs and at the SA embassy in China as immigration counsellor following a six-year stint as senior investigator in the Public Protector’s Office and a year as senior researcher at the SA Human Rights Commission. The DM notes that approval for the Public Protector requires 60% of the 400-strong National Assembly according to section 193(5)(b)(i) of the Constitution, before the name is submitted to the President for appointment.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
