Dunstan Mlambo outlines what he will do if appointed chief justice

The SA judiciary is functional and has lived up to the promise of delivering justice despite challenges such as access to courts, Gauteng judge president Dunstan Mlambo said on Thursday.

Mlambo is the third of four candidates to be interviewed for the position of chief justice. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interviewed Constitutional Court justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga on Tuesday and Supreme Court of Appeal president Mandisa Maya on Wednesday. It will interview acting chief justice Raymond Zondo on Friday.

Mlambo said his vision, if appointed chief justice, is to have an efficient and effective judiciary that is independent and able to fulfil its mandate as set out in the constitution.

He said there were perceptions among South Africans that the constitution has not delivered and is not achieving its purpose.

“There is loss of confidence in the judiciary, loss of confidence in the justice system as well as the rule of law. More worrying, the judiciary operates in a somewhat toxic environment — toxic in the sense that the judiciary is attacked on a number of fronts.

“You have unfounded claims of corruption against members of the judiciary. But more worrying is I can tell you as head of the court, starting in the labour court and the high court, that there is corruption growing involving court operations in SA,” Mlambo said.

The corruption was not by judicial officers but in the use and circulation of fraudulent court orders which appear to be proper court orders, he said.

Investigation of such fraudulent court orders shows no such matter was heard on the particular date. This issue required serious attention because it could erode the legitimacy of the judiciary, he said.

Mlambo listed a number of “pillars” of the role, including effective and visible leadership.

“Effective leadership translates into a leader leading by example, being with judges, being concerned with their welfare and wellbeing. If appointed, I will expand efforts ... to fortify the strength and independence of the judiciary.”

As a leader, a chief justice should inspire and motivate and ensure that judges and magistrates deliver on their mandate.

“I will ensure we build strong, accountable measures to make sure we account for what we do. My personal leadership style attests to this,” he said.

Another pillar was to assert the rightful place of an independent judiciary as an essential arm of government.

“As head of the judiciary, I need to develop strategies aimed at protecting our legitimacy ... and countering the threats to our legitimacy.”

If appointed, he would work towards encouraging other leaders of government to get together and discuss issues of concern and how to improve operations in their respective areas.

Another pillar was to focus on introducing and improving efficiency in judicial operations. This would address the issue of long-outstanding reserved judgments and cases which had been on court rolls for a long time.

Digitisation of court records was the way to go to make records readily available and save physical space to store files.

“Modernisation is the way to go. You can call me a judicial technocrat if you want to. I am as much a technocrat and administrator as I am a judge,” Mlambo said.

The interview continues.

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