Human rights lawyer Mbekezeli Benjamin said a framework and rules of procedure would provide guidance in the appointment of judges in terms of candidates being asked the right type of questions.

He was a panelist during a webinar organized by the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office and Hanns Seidel Foundation which discussed controversial recent Judicial Services Commission (JSC) interviews.

The interviews were held two weeks ago as part of the process of appointing a judge to the position of Chief Justice, which was left vacant in October when Judge Mogoeng Mogoeng’s term came to an end. 

The JSC is under fire and some organisations have questioned the involvement of politicians in the process.

Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema and Advocate Dali Mpofu were accused of asking irrelevant questions to some of the candidates.

Meanwhile Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution research officer Dan Mafora said there was a sense that the JSC had been used to belittle and achieve particular ends, such as in the case of Judge Dunstan Mlambo.

He said it was concerning that many lawyers in the JSC chose to engage in politics.

He said there were attempts to achieve political goals.

Alison Tilley, coordinator from Judges Matter, said the formation of the JSC was controversial from the beginning because in most countries with similar legal systems to the one in South Africa, judges appoint other judges.

She said the idea had been to avoid the apartheid judiciary being overly influential in the new democratic South Africa.

Tilley said the idea was to create a body with more politicians than most for the purpose of ensuring that transformation of the judiciary and the implementation of the Constitution were achieved.

She said the way the JSC was constructed at the moment was failing and it was too big.

Tilley believed that there were more suitable ways that could be used than the makeup of the JSC currently, if we were to avoid what was witnessed during the recent interviews.

She said we had been over 100 days without a Chief Justice and added that President Cyril Ramaphosa needed to make an appointment urgently.

Tilley said the criteria and rules of procedure and code of conduct were urgently needed before the JSC interviews expected in April.

She said these interviews cannot go ahead without clear guidance and procedures.