15 Feb 2017

Minister of Defence, Justice and Security has told Parliament that judges of the High Court are appointed by the President acting on advice of the Judicial Service Commission.In response to a parliamentary question on Tuesday, Mr Shaw Kgathi said these appointments were done in accordance with section 96 of the constitution. “The notion that the appointment of Judges is not transparent is ill conceived and is based on subjective views which are not supported by any evidence,” said Mr Kgathi. He also said the issue relating to the appointment of judges was currently a subject of litigation and therefore he was constrained to go into details relating to such since the matter is subjudice. MP for Selebi Phikwe West, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse had wanted to know why the appointment of judges was not transparent and when it would be transparent including public hearings of judges’ interviews like it obtained in progressive democracies. ENDS