Ramaphosa to revive Special Tribunal, appointments to be made ‘as soon as possible’

A list of recommended judges to serve on the Special Tribunal, which has effectively collapsed, has been sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa, GroundUp has confirmed.

The Special Tribunal was established in 2019 to hear applications by the Special Investigating Unit to freeze and confiscate the proceeds of corruption, including money, properties, and vehicles.

Ramaphosa must now consult with the chief justice (currently Justice Raymond Zondo) before appointing new judges to the tribunal.

It has taken four months since the resignation of tribunal head Judge Lebogang Modiba at the end of March – which was effective at the end of June – for steps to be taken to appoint new judges and a head of the tribunal.

Besides Modiba, another tribunal judge has retired, and the other judges had not been active in hearing matters for some time, which left Modiba to handle the majority of matters before her resignation.

Before leaving office, Modiba advised former justice minister Ronald Lamola of a number of concerns, including the lack of active judges on the tribunal, the status of the Tribunal in light of a Constitutional Court judgment that it was technically not a court, and her personal workload.

The Special Tribunal is one of the most effective weapons in the government’s anti-corruption arsenal, and its collapse has been a major setback for the Special Investigating Unit, as it has been unable to take new matters to the tribunal.

Although the tribunal has released at least two judgments since it stopped operating, both were outstanding from earlier hearings.

Special Tribunal judges are appointed by the president in consultation with the chief justice. But in practice, the Justice Ministry sources and compiles a list of judges that is forwarded to the president for his consideration.

Tsekiso Machike, the spokesperson for the Justice Ministry, confirmed that a memorandum (compiled by the ministry) containing the names of the recommended judges to serve in the Special Tribunal “has been sent to the Presidency”.

President Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, confirmed this and said: “The appointments will be made as soon as possible so that the tribunal can proceed with its work.”

After GroundUp’s story appeared in mid-July, a Department of Justice and Constitutional Development source said there had been a flurry within the department and the ministry, and within days a list was “floating around with judges’ names” to serve on the tribunal.

The source, who would only speak on condition of anonymity, said the news of Modiba’s resignation took many people in the department and ministry by “complete surprise”.

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