Magistrates Commission interviews 2020

The Magistrates Commission (‘MC’) is a statutory body established in terms of section 2 of the Magistrates Act, No. 90 of 1993 (‘the Act’). The purpose of the MC is to, inter alia, conduct interviews of magistrates for permanent appointment and thereafter advise the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development or to make recommendations to him or her regarding the requirements for appointment of judicial officers in the respective magistrate’s courts. The MC has five committees, one of which is the appointments committee. The appointments committee is responsible for interviewing candidates for permanent appointment to the magistracy.

The purpose of the Magistrates Commission is to, inter alia, conduct interviews of magistrates for permanent appointment and thereafter advise the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development or to make recommendations to him or her regarding the requirements for appointment of judicial officers in the respective magistrate’s courts. The MC has five committees, one of which is the appointments committee.

2019 Magistrates Commission Interviews

Between 28 October and 4 November 2019, the Appointments Committee of the MC interviewed 88 candidates for 26 vacant positions for regional court magistrates. Judges Matter attended these interviews and provided feedback to the general public on the interview process followed by the Appointments Committee of the MC, and on our views about the candidates that were interviewed. Between 3 February 2020 and 7 February 2020, the Appointments Committee of the MC conducted further interviews for Senior Magistrates posts.

2020 Magistrates Commission Interviews

During December 2019, the MC advertised 182 vacant posts for entry level magistrates. The applications for these posts closed on 24 January 2020. The shortlisting for these vacancies took place during September 2020. Approximately, 481 candidates have been shortlisted for these entry level magistrates’ posts.

The interviews for these posts are scheduled to begin in November 2020 and continue into 2021. The first batch of interviews is scheduled to take place between 3 November 2020 and 21 November 2020. The second batch of interviews is scheduled to take place between 30 November 2020 and 9 December 2020. The third batch of interviews is scheduled to take place between 18 January 2021 and 28 January 2021. The interviews that will be conducted on these dates will not cover the number of candidates that have been shortlisted. The last set of dates for further interviews is yet to be determined by the MC.

The interviews in November 2020 will be conducted over a period of three weeks. The interviews for Kwa-Zulu Natal will be conducted first for a period of two days (3 November 2020 to 4 November 2020). The interviews for Gauteng will be conducted over a period of ten days (5 November 2020 to 16 November 2020). The interviews for the Northern Cape will be conducted over a period of two days (17 November 2020 until 18 November 2020). The interviews for the Western Cape will be conducted over a period of three days (19 November 2020 until 21 November 2020).

We will be in attendance of the interviews that have been scheduled in November 2020. Considering the voluminous number of interviews, the attendance will only be in respect of some of the interviews for Gauteng, as well as those for the Northern Cape and the Western Cape. Please click here for the full interview schedule and the latest updates.

The need to fill vacancies

It is evident that there are a huge number of vacancies within the magistracy. While it is still unclear what has caused this many vacancies to exist in the magistracy, what is apparent is that the Magistrates Commission is doing its utmost to fill these vacancies.