Opposition parties have called for the resignation of Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla, and accused her of racism and of sabotaging the judiciary for her refusal to appoint white male acting judges in the Free State to fill temporary vacancies, according to a report in The Witness.

The DA, Freedom Front Plus and the IFP warned yesterday that Mabandla’s refusal would hamper the sound administration of justice and lead to further backlogs in the Free State court. The IFP’s Justice spokesperson Koos van der Merwe said there were ‘literally hundreds’ of reserved judgments that were not being delivered. The judiciary needed competent persons to be appointed to the Bench, irrespective of the colour of their skin, he said. The DA’s Camerer said that while the JSC has urged the Minister to give, particularly women, an opportunity to act as judges, no quota system operates or should operate as far as temporary acting appointments were concerned. ‘People are appointed to get the job done,’ she said. FF Plus Justice spokesperson Frik van Heerden described Mabandla’s decision as ‘shockingly inappropriate, irresponsible and blatant racism and discrimination based upon race and gender’.
Full report in The Witness


The row follows the vetoing of two white male advocates to serve as temporary acting judges. News reports say Mabandla rejected Free State Judge President JP Malherbe's application to appoint two acting judges from the ranks of the province's experienced advocates. A report in The Mercury points out that acting judges are traditionally appointed from the Bar, although in an attempt to transform the Bench appointments have also been made from the side-bar, academics and even senior magistrates. Justice Ministry spokesperson Zolile Nqayi said given the current profile of the Bloemfontein High Court, acting appointments should ideally be made from the ranks of black and women legal professionals. ‘This was in the interests of the transformation of the judiciary in terms of the Constitution,’ he said. ‘If there was not sufficient experience at the Bar, these could also come from lawyers and legal academics,’ Nqayi said. He said in the past year there had been quite a few appointments of white males as acting judges in the Free State. In terms of permanent appointments, there were currently eight white males, two black males, one white woman and one Indian woman on the Free State Bench. He did not rule out that white male advocates could be appointed as acting judges in the future, saying there was not a total ban on their appointments.
Full report in The Mercury (subscription needed)