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Cape Town - Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke warned judges they are legally required to resign membership of political parties when they are on the bench.
"Just for the record, it is unlawful for a judge to be a member of a political organisation," Moseneke said while interviewing attorney Nkopane Phalatsi for a position as a judge in the Free State High Court.
"The law doesn't prevent you from being a member, but if you are appointed as a judge, you are statutorily required to resign [party membership]," he said at the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interviews in Cape Town.
The issue of political allegiance has arisen frequently during the interviews, with JSC commissioner and EFF leader Julius Malema going as far as asking one candidate Lawrence Lever if he had been deployed by a political party.
This was after Lever declared he had been a Member of Parliament for the Democratic Party, the predecessor of the DA.
Malema asked Phalatsi, who had been expelled from university because of his involvement in student politics as an organiser with the anti-apartheid movement, the United Democratic Front, if he currently belonged to any political party.
He confirmed his affiliation with the ANC, saying: "I am a member, not in good standing."
Moseneke cut the laughter short with his warning to current and aspiring judges.
The application forms to the JSC allow for the declaration of political affiliation, or membership of a secret organisation.
Phalatsi had to complete his legal studies at the University of South Africa.
His CV before he became an attorney includes being a clerk at a bus company, reflecting the humble beginnings of many of the candidates.
