Chris Oxtoby: Malema’s JSC membership in the balance over legal woes…

A series of adverse legal findings has put both Julius Malema’s seat in Parliament and his position on the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) in jeopardy. Should he be served a severe sentence for his firearm offences, he will be disqualified from being a member of the National Assembly. Meanwhile, Chris Oxtoby of Freedom Under Law, tells Chris Steyn why the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader’s position on the JSC has become “untenable”. He stresses that Parliament now has enough grounds to act. He further gives the inside story of two days of JSC hearings - from which Malema was absent in order to attend the Ad Hoc Committee hearings. Oxtoby says despite there being some “credible” candidates to fill a Supreme Court of Appeal vacancy, none were able to get enough votes. He describes Freedom Under Law's ongoing litigation with the JSC over its voting process, and questions “whether the process that we don't see after the interviews, the deliberations and the voting behind closed doors, whether that is properly fit for purpose if it's not being able to deliver us candidates…”