Patel withdraws from ConCourt race

Patel was to have been one of six candidates to be interviewed by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) in Cape Town yesterday for the vacancy. The judge’s move, says an SABC News report, follows a series of letters to the JSC from an unsuccessful litigant who claims Patel is unfit for the job. The remaining candidates are all women. Full report on SABC News site

A Durban attorney had some difficult explaining her judgments at the JSC sitting. Nompumelelo Hazel Radebe explained why she handed down judgments that were under correction while working as an acting judge in KwaZulu-Natal. Radebe (48) is applying for a vacant position on the Bench in the Natal Provincial Division. According to a report in The Witness she told the JSC that on one occasion she handed in a draft judgment that she subsequently corrected and re-sent. But by the time she got it back in its final form, it was too late. ‘There were a lot of mistakes and omissions. I put this down to the fact that it was one of the first judgments I had made when doing criminal law. I also think it had a lot to do with the fact that the typist (who typed from a played recording of the case) could not pick up my voice – as there were many mistakes,’ Radebe said. ‘I think the typist could not understand my tone. I have since improved my tone – and I have not had as many mistakes as I had before.’ Full report in The Witness

A lesbian judge was quizzed about her lifestyle by the JSC yesterday. Pretoria High Court Judge Anna-Marie de Vos and her colleague at the Bar, Judge Jeremiah Shongwe, were interviewed for the position of Deputy Judge President in the Transvaal Provincial Division. A report in The Mercury says that whereas Shongwe’s interview lasted no more than 30 minutes, the commissioners grilled De Vos for more than an hour. De Vos became a household name four years ago when she and her partner Suzanne du Toit won a Constitutional Court case to be recognised as the legal parents of their two adoptive children. Advocate Silas Nkanunu wanted to know whether De Vos was not concerned about the perception of other judges of the fact that De Vos had a woman ‘partner’ and not a husband. De Vos replied that she assumed all SA judges were committed to the provisions in the Constitution protecting and ensuring equality. She couldn\'t see how her ‘lifestyle’ would be a problem. Full report in The Mercury