Nkosikhulule Nyembezi
CAPE TOWN - In case you weren't paying attention, the Union Buildings and a chorus of public commentators on social media are claiming President Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment of Justice Raymond Zondo as the next Chief Justice with effect from April 1 as a vindication of his style to lead by consensus.
Almost as soon as the announcement came out on March 11, the Presidency and these commentators began spinning to the media that Ramaphosa’s light footprint approach to the process was infinitely superior to that followed by former President Jacob Zuma.
They fell over themselves to point out that the entire appointment process has not cost a single judiciary casualty.
One commentator even crowed that (vulgarity excised) “Zuma embarrassed former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke when he overlooked him twice as a suitable candidate for Chief Justice in favour of Justice Sandile Ngcobo and Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng; Ramaphosa has opened doors for all three – Justice Raymond Zondo, Judge Mandisa Maya, and Judge Dunstan Mlambo.”
This is in light of Ramaphosa’s indicated intention to nominate Maya for the position of Deputy Chief Justice, and thereby, opening the way for Judge Mlambo to take over Judge Maya’s position as the President of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Political parties such as the DA, IFP, and Al Jama-ah were not far behind the Presidency in declaring this appointment process as a victory for Ramaphosa and the judiciary.
All while EFF leader Julius Malema criticised Justice Zondo’s appointment as ‘unfortunate, short-sighted and uninspiring’, protesting that history will judge Ramaphosa harshly.
The EFF is not alone in that corner, purely out of a deep sense of disappointment.
Such fulsome praise for Ramaphosa is puzzling, notwithstanding that his decision has ended an extraordinarily long six months process which saw the candidates named and, all too often shamed, in the televised interview proceedings.
After all, there is an African proverb saying: oxhela eyakhe akabuzwa (he or she who slaughters his or her own is not questioned).
Moreover, such praises also put politicians inside and outside Parliament in a particularly difficult bind regarding whether, through this appointment, Ramaphosa has demonstrated appreciable commitment to the advancement of gender equality or has succumbed to political manoeuvring within the ANC factions.
Leading these choruses of praise are individuals who were cheerleaders for President Zuma in his messy experiment of Justice Ngcobo and Justice Mogoeng, but are now tying themselves in knots trying not to discredit Ramaphosa for his promise to get Maya to the Deputy Chief Justice office, which he has no guarantee to see through.
I find Ramaphosa’s declared intention on Maya predictable but disheartening.
At the most basic level, it reveals the narcissistic myopia of the South African political establishment. It demonstrates the ANC government’s struggle with the implementation of policies to advance gender equality and women empowerment in the judiciary.
Yet, there are high and legitimate expectations for this administration to do more.
After all, if it misses a historical opportunity to deliver a female judicial figurehead, what did this administration mean when it declared 2021 as the Year of Charlotte Maxeke, 2018 as the Year of Nelson Mandela and Albertina Sisulu, and all other symbolism celebrating the important role of women in our society?
If the hoped-for institutional continuity associated with Justice Zondo’s appointment materialises to give us a female judicial figurehead, it will be produced by circumstance and a fair amount of luck, rather than any ingenious plan from the Union Buildings.
The Ramaphosa administration has also waded into this tricky stacking of the three candidates – Justice Zondo, Judge Maya, and Judge Mlambo - in our superior courts without pausing to consider its political implications for the administration of justice.
Consider the rumours that Ramaphosa might not be re-elected as the ANC leader and therefore might not be in office to take forward the promise of appointing Justice Maya as Justice Zondo’s successor when the time comes.
Yes, Ramaphosa might not win the second term. He hinted at that himself in his Sona when he brought up how trying times need courage and resilience, quoting from former president Thabo Mbeki’s resignation speech following the ANC event that cut short his term of office.
What other explanation can his choice of scenario-setting words be, except that he was already saying benediction to his presidency?
While none of this scenario is unfolding in secret, his new allies are willing to throw the urgency to appoint a competent woman under a bus to get on the correct side of the ‘thuma mina’ moment.
The Ramaphosa administration does not believe that such can be achieved collectively without making such an event a referendum on the consensus-building abilities of the sitting South African president.
Even if one wanted to engage in point-scoring, it is hard to call this appointment a victory for the Ramaphosa administration, given the fact that since President Mandela’s time, we already had Frene Ginwala as Speaker of Parliament, several women Cabinet ministers, and exclusively women ambassadors in the G7 and other strategic countries.
These set the bar for subsequent administrations to improve on by also allowing a male justice to lead from behind to support a woman leader.
As I have argued previously, the Ramaphosa administration's “strategy” in key policy implementation areas – if, indeed, it merits the term – has been incoherent and contradictory.
It could have been done more through this appointment process to advance gender transformation in the judiciary.
Even those of us looking forward to seeing the leadership skills of the new Chief Justice and his team at work will find it hard to celebrate in the face of yet another overlooked female appointment waged by presidential prerogative alone.
Nyembezi is a policy analyst and human rights activist
Cape Times