White groups call for Malema's removal from Judicial Service Commission

A number of white civil society organisations have called for Julius Malema to be removed from the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), saying his recent criminal conviction and history of legal transgressions make him unfit to serve on the body responsible for selecting judges.

In a joint statement on Friday, Freedom Under Law, Defend our Democracy and the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution said the conviction this week of the EFF leader on charges relating to the unlawful possession and discharge of a firearm in public "demonstrates that he is not a fit and proper person" to sit on the JSC.

The groups highlighted that this was not Malema's first run-in with the law this year.

In August, the Equality Court ruled that some of his statements amounted to hate speech, while in May, the high court upheld parliament's finding that Malema had breached its code of ethics for using a JSC interview in 2021 for personal political interests.

"Though it has also been reported that Mr Malema is planning appeals against both the firearms conviction and the hate speech ruling, these are nonetheless serious findings made by our high courts that Mr Malema has acted not only unlawfully, but criminally," the organisations said.

They warned that Malema's continued presence on the JSC threatened the credibility of the institution and the judiciary itself.

"The JSC plays a central role in selecting judges for appointment. Judges are responsible for upholding the constitution and the rule of law.

"It would undermine public confidence in the JSC, the process of selecting judges and indeed the credibility of the entire judiciary for an individual who is subject to ongoing legal proceedings of this nature and has made statements attacking the judiciary to be involved in the judicial selection process," the statement reads.

The groups took particular issue with comments made by Malema and his party after his conviction on Tuesday where the EFF described the case as part of a "political persecution" and accused the judiciary of being aligned with "racist organisations".

Malema himself implied that the magistrate who convicted him was racist.

"The unsubstantiated description of the judiciary as a racist organisation and the scurrilous racial attack by Mr Malema against the magistrate undermines the judiciary. It is inappropriate for the leader of a political party which has expressed these views to be involved in the selection of judges," the organisations said.

They called on Malema to step down as a member of the JSC.

"Should he decline to do so, we call on the National Assembly to take steps to remove him as a member of the JSC."

Sentencing proceedings in Malema's firearms case are scheduled to begin in January.