President Mogoeng? Rumours swirl

FORMER chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has remained mum on reports that he will be one of the presidential hopefuls.

There have been opposing opinions on whether he is allowed to enter the political arena.

Mogoeng was reportedly selected as a presidential candidate by the All African Alliance Movement launched earlier this year.

The vocal judge hasn’t come out publicly to state his case on the matter and attempts to contact him by the Weekend Argus were unsuccessful.

According to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) Act, a retired judge must not enter party politics.

Legal experts say a retired judge is also expected not to do anything that would bring the judiciary into disrepute.

There are arguments following the landmark judgment on the Electoral Act that independent candidates should be allowed to contest elections.

The act further states that “a judge who has been discharged from active service may only with the written consent of the minister, acting after consultation with the chief justice, hold or perform any other office of profit or receive in respect of any service any fees, emoluments or other remuneration or allowances apart from his or her salary and any other amount which may be payable to him or her in his or her capacity as a judge”.

This is something new in South Africa’s young democracy, where a judge is linked to a political party and is said to be willing to contest elections.

Mogoeng does, however, have options, like taking the matter to the courts and challenging its constitutionality because this has never been done before.

The interpretation of the act and ethics will then be put to challenge.

Judges enjoy benefits like a salary until they die and should a judge be found guilty of misconduct they lose these benefits

Legal expert Greta Engelbrecht said judges were bound by the Constitution and the oath of office they took.

“The real issue is that judges, when they retire, what we see in the public eye as them retiring is just their release from active service. They continue to be paid, and they may be called back to actually serve for a limited period of time when it is required.”

Mogoeng is also linked with chairing the panel that will look into President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm saga.

Some experts believe that Mogoeng can abandon the benefits and run for the presidency.

There are suggestions that he will go ahead and challenge the act in court to say the act is unconstitutional.