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In August this year Corruption Watch (CW) celebrated as the Constitutional Court handed down its judgment in the organisation’s challenge to the validity of the appointment of five commissioners to the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE). The court deemed the appointment process, undertaken in 2022, to be invalid as it offered inadequate public participation.
CW approached the court in late 2023, several months after the appointments were officially announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, to have them declared invalid. The court found unanimously in favour of Corruption Watch 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 committee’s actions failed to secure a meaningful public participation process.
It further ruled that the invalidity of the appointments was to be suspended for 12 months to allow Parliament to conduct a new appointment process and Ramaphosa to make appointments in a manner that is consistent with the Constitution. In practical terms this means that the commissioners may stay in their current positions for those 12 months while either seeking other opportunities or waiting for a new parliamentary appointment process.
Now, the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities has adopted, during a meeting on 21 October, the amended advertisements and programme for a rerun of the CGE appointment process. Parliament’s legal advisors had previously briefed committee members on the implications of the judgment and assisted in developing a way forward, as this committee is tasked with redoing the appointment process.
The committee is addressing the ruling by requiring all applicants to submit a full CV, which will be transparently published for public commentary. The nomination adverts are scheduled to run from 1 December 2025 to 23 January 2026, allowing for 36 working days for public engagement.
Committee members highlighted the importance of providing ample time for public comment and ensuring that the application process is accessible to all sectors of society, while chairperson Liezl van der Merwe emphasised the committee’s commitment to a fair, inclusive, and lawful process in identifying new CGE commissioners.
“This approach aims to ensure significant and adequate public engagement in the recruitment process for commissioners,” said members.
