Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday officially appointed 27 new judges to South Africa's courts, including the country's first woman Judge President.
Judge Monica Leeuw has been appointed as Judge President for the North West bench, making her the first woman to be appointed in such a position.
Of the 27 candidates appointed by Zuma, six are female and over ten candidates are black.
There has been an outcry from gender and other groups about the lack of women and new black jurists'; with the point being made that their absence was hampering the transformation of the judiciary.
According to a statement from the Presidency, Zuma has among others, appointed Judge Dunstan Mlambo as judge president of the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court.
Judge Clement Temba Sangoni was appointed judge president of the Eastern Cape High Court while judge Herbert Qed'usizi Msimang was appointed judge president of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court.
Dhayanithie Pillay and Nomatamsanqa Geraldine Beshe were appointed judges at the KwaZulu-Natal High Court and of the Eastern Cape High Court respectively.
For the north and south Gauteng High Courts, Motsamai Abraham Makume, Natvarlal Ranchod and Neil Tuchten, who was the advocate in a case against former National Intelligence Authority (NIA) Director-General Billy Masetlha, were appointed as judges
Zuma wished the new judges well in their appointments.
