Retired justices will no longer support serving ones

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The Office of the Chief Justice has announced that it will terminate the programme in which retired justices are used in support of serving ones.

This comes after a media report which stated that retired Justice Zak Yacoob had been appointed to the Constitutional Court led to concerns.

Chief Justice Raymond Zondo clarified that Yacoob would only render a “support service”.

The said “support service” entailed reading new applications delivered to the Constitutional Court and preparing memoranda for the serving Justices.

Following a meeting to review the said programme, it was discontinued.

The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac) has since welcomed this decision adding that the use of retired justices to draft memoranda on pending applications would, in their view, pose the risk that they would be able to influence the views of the serving Justices of the Court, which would compromise their independence.