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President Zuma's appointment of four new members to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) today is part of an ANC strategy to achieve a majority of executive-minded, ANC-friendly commissioners, ahead of upcoming interviews for new Constitutional Court judges.

The first step in this process was Minister of Justice Jeff Radebe's decision to suspend hearings for new judges on June 8th. Subsequent to this, on July 8th, the ANC used underhanded tactics to replace the sole opposition representative on the JSC from the National Council of Provinces, Darryl Worth, with an ANC nominee. Now four new members of the JSC have been appointed to replace, amongst others, renowned human rights lawyer George Bizos.

Subsequent to Radebe's decision to postpone interviews, the ANC has attained a majority on the JSC - 12 of its 23 members are now either ANC politicians or appointees of Jacob Zuma. As such, it is difficultto view the events of the last six weeks, and in particular today's announcement, as anything other than a deliberate attempt to ensure that an ANC-dominated JSC hears Constitutional Court interviews later this year.

The Democratic Alliance has made it clear that we have significant reservations over two of President Zuma's nominees. It is disappointing that the President has chosen not to reconsider their appointment