H.E President Zuma asks court to review and set aside the inexplicable appointment of Mr Raymond Zondo as Chief Justice of South Africa
3 October 2023
H.E President Jacob Zuma and the JG Zuma Foundation previously launched an application against the President of the Republic in the North Gauteng High Court seeking relief to declare the conduct of the President in appointing Judge Raymond Zondo as the Chief Justice of South Africa to be unconstitutional and to review and set aside the decision to appoint him.
Last week on the 26th of September 2023, Mr Ramaphosa filed his Notice to oppose the application while the Judicial Service Commission filed a notice to abide whatever decision of the court will make.
Accordingly, the next step in the process will be the compulsory provision by the JSC and Mr Ramaphosa of the record of the proceedings and deliberations pertaining to the JSCs recommendations and the President's decision.
According to publicly available evidence the current Chief Justice scored the lowest number of votes from the JSC following the week-long interviews.
Yet Mr Ramaphosa allegedly acted irrationally in ignoring the advice of the JSC and appointing him despite being effectively declared as unsuitable for the position and the poor showing he made at the public interview.
The applicants and the public will surely look forward to what legal justification Mr. Ramaphosa will give for his decision when he files his answering affidavit.
He will be called upon to dispel the allegations or suspicions that Zondo was being unduly rewarded for absolving Ramaphosa for his role in the BOSASA/CR 17 scandal, among other things, in the so-called State Capture Commission Report.
He must also explain why he overlooked a woman candidate when she had, in any event, received the highest votes. Such conduct is in breach of the equality clause (section 9 of the Constitution) and section 174(2) of the Constitution both of which prohibit gender discrimination.
The Foundation will keep the public informed about developments in this important matter involving accountability.
Issued by Mzwanele Manyi, Spokesperson, JG Zuma Foundation, 3 October 2023
