JSC moves after the storm
THE JSC looks set to defy its critics and appoint a number of women to some senior judicial posts when it interviews for judges this week.
THE Judicial Service Commission (JSC) looks set to defy its critics and appoint a number of women to some senior judicial posts when it interviews for judges this week.
The poor state of gender representivity on the bench — the national average is 29% — has been a longstanding preoccupation for the JSC. But it was catapulted into the public eye when it was announced in January that no woman had been nominated or short-listed for a vacancy on the Constitutional Court. The highest court is the lowest performing when it comes to gender representivity.
Now, almost as if in answer to the storm of criticism, more than half the candidates are women. This includes two of the three candidates for deputy judge president of the North Gauteng High Court and one of the three short-listed for the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Of the Supreme Court of Appeal’s 25 judges, seven are women, a percentage of just 28%. If the two male candidates — Eastern Cape Judge Clive Plasket and South Gauteng High Court Judge Nigel Willis — were to be appointed, the percentage of women would slip to 25%.
But if the sole woman candidate, South Gauteng High Court Judge Halima Saldulker were appointed along with one of the men, the Supreme Court of Appeal would become 29% representative.
Lawyers said this factor, and the fact that she is the only black candidate for the Supreme Court of Appeal, would give Judge Saldulker an edge.
There is currently only one woman judge president, Monica Leeuw of the North West High Court, and one woman deputy judge president, Jeanette Traverso of the Western Cape High Court.
Of the three candidates for deputy judge president of the North Gauteng High Court, two are women — Judge Lettie Molopa-Sethosa and Judge Cynthia Pretorius.
The other leadership position on offer in this round — for judge president of the Competition Appeal Court — goes against the trend as there is only one candidate: Judge President Dennis Davis, whose reappointment looks set to be little more than a formality. However, Judge Davis’s court is already one of the most gender representative in the country, with 44% of its judges being women.
The commission is also looking to fill four vacancies in the North and South Gauteng high courts and one vacancy in the Eastern Cape High Court. On the short list for both of these courts are mostly women.
Women make up only 24% of the North and South Gauteng high courts — the lowest number of any high court other than Limpopo, which has just one woman judge on the bench.
Apart from the Bhisho High Court, which is only 25% women, the Eastern Cape courts are not doing too badly. The Grahamstown court is at about 28% and Mthatha is doing well at 42%.
However, a senior Eastern Cape lawyer said the region’s biggest challenge remains the exodus of senior judges due to retirement and elevation — a factor the JSC might have to consider. This consideration led it last year to choose Judge Murray Lowe over a second woman.
The Gauteng courts do not have this dilemma, with many of their judges still very senior. But the majority of the women candidates — though very experienced attorneys and magistrates — have had limited acting stints, which has been a concern for the JSC during previous rounds.
The exception is Wendy Hughes, who has done acting stints in different high courts since 2009 — giving her a much lengthier judgment track record, which will better enable the JSC to assess her.