South Africa's Zuma appoints new chief justice

Sep 8, 2011, 14:40 GMT

Johannesburg - South Africa President Jacob Zuma appointed on Thursday a new chief justice for the country - despite vocal objections from unions and women's rights groups.

Constitution Court Judge Mogoeng Mogoeng, aged 51, will be the country's new chief judicial figure, the president said at a press conference in Pretoria.

Mogoeng was quizzed by a parliamentary committee for two days earlier this week for the post, after being announced as Zuma's only choice last month.

However, some of his rulings as a judge - he has been a member of the judiciary since 1997 and from 2009 a high court judge - have led civil society groups and academics to criticize Mogoeng's position towards abused women, rape victims and minors.

Mogoeng 'has issued many rulings that undermine women's rights and are at odds with the values enshrined in the constitution,' said a group of women Nobel laureates, which includes Ireland's Mairead Maguire and Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi.

Domestically, Cosatu, the umbrella organisation for South Africa's powerful unions and a partner in government, was critical of Zuma's choice. The opposition Democratic Alliance also doubted his legal skills to take up the position.

Gay rights advocates have further questioned whether the country's new head of the judiciary supports their liberties, which are protected under South Africa's constitution. Homosexual marriage was made legal in 2006.

Several legal analysts have described Mogoeng, who is an ordained pastor, as conservative. In one ruling he declined to determine that an incident of sexual violence was rape, as the case involved a married couple.

Mogoeng told his public hearing that while his church did espouse certain values, including one that marriage is only between a man and a woman, he dismissed charges that he was unfit to be the head of the judiciary.

The new chief justice also admitted that he had erred in some cases, but pointed out that in other instances he had handed down harsh sentences to sexual abusers.