Mr Speaker, the South African legal fraternity and a great part of the thinking communities of South Africa have received with shock, horror and disbelief the information that, for the fourth time in a row, one of South Africa's best senior counsel, Jeremy Gauntlett, was not allowed to become one of our judges.
We have received with even greater shock and horror the information that somebody, ostensibly on behalf of the Judicial Service Commission and without a clear mandate or line of authority, motivated such an outrageous and irrational decision on account of Adv Gauntlett's lacking humility.
One does appreciate that those in power in the ANC have a great preference for appointing people who are not only humble, but who have a great deal or reason for being humble. [Laughter.] However, if in this country somebody who is recognised as being perhaps the most excellent advocate in the country cannot get a job in the Republic, perhaps we need to reconsider the extent to which the promises of equality, equal treatment and excellence have in fact been fulfilled.
Adv Gauntlett has been guilty of no crime other than having a low tolerance for incompetence, inefficiency and people who do not perform to the best that the position requires. If that is his crime, that crime is becoming a crime of the Republic, which no longer seems to have the space to accommodate those who strive for excellence. [Time expired.]