A suggestion by KwaZulu-Natal judge president Vuka Tshabalala that religion could play a part in the selection of judges raised hackles at Judicial Service Commission hearings in Cape Town on Wednesday.

Tshabalala's suggestion came during the JSC's interview of a candidate for the KZN bench, Durban senior counsel Aslam Motala, who is a member of the executive of the Muslim Lawyers' Association.

Tshabalala remarked that if Motala was appointed, he would be only the second Muslim judge in the division.

He said he liked to maintain a balance between "groups" and that he had been asked by some Muslim community members why he did not have more Muslim judges.

However John Ernstzen, who sits on the commission as a representative of organised labour, told Motala he did not see an appointment taking place on the basis of his religious belief.

He wanted to say "emphatically" that, given the diversity of South Africa as a nation, if the commission would not be doing its job as it should if it were to go down that road.

Having adequate experience

Motala responded that he was before the commission not on a Muslim "ticket", but as an advocate who had the requisite experience and who, he believed, could make a contribution to the administration of justice.

He said the lawyers' association was a grouping of professionals that among other things did research and gave advice on the increasing challenges posed to Muslim personal law by the South African constitution.

Its activities were however not confined to the Muslim community.

As far as he was concerned, there was nothing wrong with people wanting to organise themselves on "cultural lines" if that organisation worked for the benefit of the community.

When Motala left the room at the end of his interview, Tshabalala and Ernstzen were seen engaged in animated discussion.

Sapa