Thank God I survived the storm – Mogoeng

New Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has described as “a tsunami of a special kind” the criticism he has had to endure since President Jacob Zuma announced his nomination last month.

“From the depths of my heart, I thank God for seeing my family and I through a tsunami of a special kind that I had to confront during the past few weeks,” Justice Mogoeng said on Thursday afternoon after Zuma had announced his appointment as the new chief justice.

Justice Mogoeng’s choice of the word “tsunami” may be seen as an attempt to draw parallels with Zuma’s path to the presidency. It was Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi who described Zuma in 2007 as “an unstoppable tsunami”.

Zuma’s description of the criticism of Justice Mogoeng was more philosophical: he said it was something to be expected “in a vibrant and diverse democracy (such) as ours”.

“We can proudly say that we saw democracy at play in a most unprecedented and progressive manner, and this was a great achievement for our country,” Zuma said.

He did, however, caution that “the longest, most transparent and most robust” interview of any candidate for the post of chief justice or any other public servant might have “scared many candidates for public office, who feel this may be the next route to follow”.

Zuma also commended Justice Mogoeng for “the dignified manner” in which he had remained silent despite “the spirited public commentary” on his candidature.

Justice Mogoeng has 14 years of experience as a judge. He has served as judge of the North West High Court, of the Labour Appeals Court, and as judge president of the North West High Court. He was appointed to the Constitutional Court in 2009.

Any challenge to his appointment – except perhaps on procedural grounds – seems unlikely to succeed, legal experts say.

Constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos said no one would be able to challenge Justice Mogoeng’s appointment on substantive grounds. Any court challenge would have to be on procedural grounds, in particular the nature of consultation.

“What does consulting mean? Does the president nominate one person and go to the political party leaders and the JSC?”

De Vos added that Justice Mogoeng might just do a great job and prove his critics wrong.

Raylene Keightley, of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at Wits University said that, unlike the aborted attempt to extend Sandile Ngcobo’s term as chief justice, there was nothing unconstitutional about Justice Mogoeng’s appointment. - Political Bureau