Judge Mogoeng publicly attacks JSC critics
CHIEF Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has, before some of the world’s top legal minds, torn into those who attacked the integrity of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
Justice Mogoeng was speaking at the 18th Commonwealth Law Conference in Cape Town, attended by lawyers, magistrates, judges and academics from 54 countries.
Last week a damning report by JSC commissioner Advocate Izak Smuts SC surfaced in which he claimed the JSC overlooked white male candidates for positions on the bench and they were only considered in “ex- ceptional circumstances”.
Smuts resigned from the JSC on Friday.
Justice Mogoeng admitted the country’s judiciary was not perfect, but warned one should tread “gingerly” and not “recklessly” throw statements about suggesting racism on the part of the JSC.
“How [can it be] suggested that the leaders of the judiciary would recklessly subject the South African public to a judicial officer who does not have what it take to administer justice?” he asked. Justice Mogoeng said transformation of the judiciary was key and encouraged South Africans to support black attorneys and advocates or the pool could dry up.
He conceded this could be seen as an exaggeration but said it was necessary to stress the issue. Then he spoke about Smuts’s report, which had “apparently been leaked to the media”.
“He circulated it to the media. Why don’t you tell the truth?” Justice Mogoeng demanded. In a letter written after his resignation, Smuts noted that Advocate Jeremy Gauntlett SC, Advocate Geoff Budlender and Advocate Willem van der Linde SC had been snubbed during his term as a commissioner by the JSC.
“I raise these names to illustrate that there is something deeply concerning about the commission’s approach to the intellectual leadership of our legal community. That approach has resulted in a massive loss to our courts of the opportunity to utilise optimally the finest available intellectual prowess.
“In a country still seeking to establish a new valuebased foundation for its continued existence, this waste of talent, experience and values is not rationally explicable,” Smuts said.
After Justice Mogoeng’s address, Gauntlett spoke on the Legal Practice Bill, which seeks to dissolve law societies and bar councils to create a council reporting to Justice Minister Jeff Radebe.
Gauntlett said the answers often given to justify the bill – that it would promote access to justice and the legal profession, promote disciplinary control and the control of legal costs – were not true.
“Do you see a road stretching into the future on which litigants could travel more quickly and cheaply to court? The answer is no.”