Corruption Watch (CW) has written to Parliament’s portfolio committee on Justice and Constitutional Development urging it to extend the window for public commentary on the currently advertised vacancy at the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
Fresh off its August 2025 victory in the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) leadership appointment matter in the Constitutional Court, the organisation expressed concerns that the legislature has again short-changed the public in terms of allowing it a sufficient period within which to research and scrutinise the candidates – especially given that there are 95 CVs to be vetted within 14 calendar days.
In 2023 CW had challenged the validity of the appointment of five CGE commissioners on this basis, and the court found unanimously in favour of the organisation’s application to have the appointment process, undertaken in 2022, declared invalid as it offered inadequate opportunities for public participation. The court upheld CW’s application on the grounds that Parliament had not satisfactorily met its obligations imposed in terms of section 59(1)(a) of the Constitution and that the actions of the portfolio committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities failed to secure a meaningful public participation process.
Now the organisation finds itself having to ask the same thing of a portfolio committee not a year after the Constitutional Court made its thoughts clear on the matter of public participation in parliamentary appointment processes. The court said – rather scathingly – at the time that it was “undesirable that a Chapter 9 institution should perform its vital constitutional role under the taint of illegality”. The SAHRC is a Chapter 9 institution.
“According to the official notice published on 25 May 2026, the deadline for submissions is 8 June 2026 at 14h00. This allows the public effectively only 14 calendar days (or 10 business days) to review the listed candidates’ qualifications, conduct any necessary research, and compile substantive submissions.”
This timeframe is manifestly unreasonable, says CW, referring the committee to the 2025 Constitutional Court judgment. Furthermore, it is potentially unconstitutional considering the court’s statement that public participation is “integral to an open, transparent and democratic process which seeks to ensure the integrity and legitimacy of the process of governance” and that such truncated periods for public participation were a “further impediment to effective and meaningful public involvement”.
CW also requested clarity on the phase of the appointment process, as the list of candidates is plainly not a short list, saying that currently the public is forced to comment on all listed names at once, without knowing which candidates are still under serious consideration.
“We respectfully draw the Committee’s attention to the centrality of public participation in democratic processes as a constitutional principle. The Constitutional Court held … also that the National Assembly had failed to comply with its constitutional obligation to facilitate reasonable public involvement in recommending persons to be appointed as members of the Commission for Gender Equality in 2022.”
The organisation has asked for a response by 16h00 on Monday 1 June 2026. We will add it to this article when we receive it.
