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JSC interviews 40 candidates for 22 court vacancies

Published

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) sits from 5 to 13 October to interview over 40 candidates for 22 vacancies on superior courts. Three of the vacancies are on the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) sits from 5 to 13 October to interview over 40 candidates for 22 vacancies on superior courts. Three of the vacancies are on the Supreme Court of Appeal. Civil society group Judges Matter raised concern that the current round has no Electoral Court interviews, ahead of the local government elections.

Judges Matter coordinator Alison Tilley said the lack of candidates is concerning.

Key facts

Who
Judith February (author, Freedom Under Law); Chris Oxtoby (author, Freedom Under Law); Mandisa Maya (Chief Justice); Mahube Molemela (head of the Supreme Court of Appeal)
What
The Judicial Service Commission sits from 5-13 October to interview over 40 candidates for 22 vacancies on superior courts, including 3 on the Supreme Court of Appeal. This follows a settlement of Freedom Under Law's litigation against the JSC, which required the JSC to develop and publish criteria for assessing candidates and to have commissioners record written evaluations. The JSC must decide…
When
2026-10-05 to 2026-10-13
Where
South Africa, Sandton, Johannesburg
Status
Reported

Elections Hot

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Voting in the 2026 Local Government Elections is under way at 23,696 stations, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported a smooth start on 4 November. Stations opened at 7am and close at 9pm, and by 10am preliminary figures showed 3,523,691 voters had cast ballots.

There were problems: unused ballot papers were stolen from Mnyameni Secondary School near Durban, police opened a case, and the IEC relieved the station staff of duty. Some voters in Tshwane said they were turned away for wearing party shirts, but the IEC denied this and said only mayoral candidates' entourages were barred.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe told members not to query the results or discredit the IEC, while the IEC said false online claims show routine procedures as fraud.

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US mid-terms Heating up

What you need to know

Democrats won back both the US House and Senate in the midterm elections held on 3 November, according to media projections. Exit polls showed voters were angry about high prices and the direction of the country, and rebuked President Donald Trump.

Before the vote, US forces struck targets on Qeshm Island in Iran, while Republicans struggled to defend the war against Iran on the campaign trail. Iranian officials said US voters rejected the war, and Tehran stayed on high alert for possible new US strikes.

Markets reacted, with the dollar hitting a one-month low and the rand firming to around R16.55, as analysts pointed to fears of gridlock in Washington.

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AI Cooling

What you need to know

Nvidia has told its cloud computing clients to sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Anthropic said it has committed to spend close to $900bn on AI infrastructure, and that its computing costs are rising faster than its revenues.

Elsewhere, reports from unnamed sources say OpenAI's latest funding round is falling short of expectations, and a judge let the NAACP pollution case against xAI proceed. In South Africa, the VAST AI investment scheme went offline on 30 October after withdrawals marked approved did not arrive, according to a news investigation.

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