Emjindini, Ixopo, Njijini and Tsolo are laid-back communities that have a lot in common besides being surrounded by exquisite countryside.
Now, one of them will produce the country's next chief justice as the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) interviews four judges vying for the post vacated by the departure of chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng whose term ended last year.
Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza SC, a former member of the JSC, said the commission has to comply with a section of the legislation that calls for the judiciary to be reflective of the country's broad demographics, including race and gender.
“We have had four chief justices. I think any leader of the court must be properly qualified, be a fit and proper person first of all,” Ntsebeza said.
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Ntsebeza said after the interviews the JSC will have discussions about how the interviews went and recommended a candidate to President Cyril Ramaphosa for appointment.
On Thursday, judge Dunstan Mlambo, judge president of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, said during his interview that the country's judiciary is functional and has lived up to the promise of delivering justice.
Mlambo, who grew up in Emjindini, Mpumalanga, holds an LLD degree (honoris causa) from the University of Fort Hare; an LLB from the Unisa and a B Proc from the University of the North (now University of Limpopo).
Mlambo is the third of four candidates to be interviewed for the position of chief justice with deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo, who is from Ixopo in KwaZulu-Natal’s Midlands region, set to take the hot seat on Friday.
Zondo, who chaired the state capture commission of inquiry, holds an LLM that he achieved cum laude, specialising in labour law, from Unisa and another LLM with specialisation in commercial law and patent law from the same university.
He completed his high school education at St Mary’s Seminary in Ixopo before enrolling for a law degree at the University of Zululand (now University of KwaZulu-Natal).
Zondo's interview comes after Mbuyiseli Madlanga kick-started the interviews on Tuesday, followed by judge Mandisa Maya on Wednesday. She is the only female candidate vying for the top judicial position.
Madlanga was born and raised in Njijini village outside KwaBhaca in the Eastern Cape.
He matriculated at Mariazell High School in Matatiele before obtaining a B Juris degree at the University of Transkei (Unitra).
Madlanga also holds an LLM in human rights and constitutional law, which he received cum laude at the University of Notre Dame in the US.
At the age of 34, Madlanga was appointed as a judge of the Mthatha high court, becoming one of SA's youngest judges at the time.
Maya, the judge president of the Supreme Court of Appeals, is from Tsolo in the Eastern Cape and matriculated at St Johns College in Mthatha.
She holds a B Proc qualification obtained in 1986 at the University of Transkei, an LLB from the University of Natal in 1988 and an LLM from Duke University in the US in 1990.
Maya became the first female president of the Supreme Court of Appeals in June 2017.
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