The quest to fill the vacancy of deputy judge president in the Eastern Cape has hit a snag — the Judicial Service Commission has not recommended any of the candidates it interviewed.
Four judges — Bulelwa Pakati, Vuyokazi Noncembu, Buyiswa Majiki and Fatima Dawood — fell short in their interviews with the commission on Tuesday.
The JSC said in a statement that "none of the candidates achieved the required majority of 13 votes".
On Friday, the commission said that after further deliberations, it had decided that it would not recommend any of the candidates for appointment for the vacancy of the deputy judge president.
The Dispatch understand that this is the second time that the JSC has not recommended a candidate for the position.
Judges Matter research and advocacy officer Mbekezeli Benjamin said it was an "extraordinary situation for a leadership position not to be filled after two attempts over two successive years".
"[Last] week's interviews have shown that the lack of stability in leadership over the last two years has had an impact on the functioning of the court and the people who work there.
"We are hopeful that a plan to stabilise the leadership in the meantime will be executed.
"We do hope that only one judge is delegated as acting deputy judge president, as the game of musical chairs we've seen in the last few months has not assisted the situation," Benjamin said.
He said Judges Matter hoped that the JSC would prioritise the vacancy and schedule a new round of interviews during its sitting in April, instead of waiting until October.
Daily Dispatch