13.04.2026
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Judge Ledwaba vying for Gauteng’s top post as JSC interviews begin

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  • The Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) April 2026 leg of interviews kicks off this week.

The Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) April 2026 leg of interviews kicks off this week. However, all eyes are expected to be on Gauteng Deputy Judge President, Judge Aubrey Ledwaba’s interview on Tuesday where he – as the sole candidate – will be vying for the post of Gauteng Judge President.

While Judge Ledwaba boasts an impressive resume in the legal profession, he was recently hit with allegations at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry in October 2025 where in-camera police officials accused him of impropriety in the handling of the bail application of alleged cartel member, Katiso “KT” Molefe.

The JSC is set to hold interviews this week to fill vacancies in superior courts, which include three vacancies in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), three in the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court, five in the Western Cape High Court and one vacancy for the Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court.

It is likely that the latter will draw the attention of the masses. This as one sole candidate, Judge Aubrey Ledwaba is expected to be iterviewed for the top post since it was vacated by Justice Dunstan Mlambo, the current Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court.

However, Justice Ledwaba was mentioned at the Madlanga Commission in untested allegations over the perceived manner in which he handled the bail application of alleged cartel member, Katiso “KT” Molefe.

An in-camera witness, Witness B said this at the time, “When the judge said it will be a burden on Mr. Molefe, I felt all the pain that came with the burden, given the fact that he himself was proposing that he wouldn’t mind doing it. But the judge is the one who felt it will be a burden. It was an agony for me to sit in that court, now listening to all this because I already knew the verdict while sitting there. So, to sit there further, it was really, really a pain to me. I even went out, made a phone call to my commander to say, can I please withdraw? I can’t sit here any longer because it was a pain.”

The police detective’s allegations appeared to be mere feelings as it was not accompanied by substantive evidence – and this is a concern for the Judges Matter Co-ordinator, Alison Tilley, who said this at the time of the explosive allegations.

“So to leave this matter hanging and these allegations, you know, open, undealt with, it’s really, it’s very unfortunate and which is really why I think from the beginning of the Madlanga Commission, we’ve said that if there are to be allegations made around judges that they should be made quickly and that they should be made with evidence, with appropriate evidence, bank records, anything that would substantiate allegations of bribery.”

Judge Ledwaba is yet to appear before the Madlanga Commission while he has strenuously denied receiving any money to grant Molefe bail, whilst describing the allegations as “hearsay”.

The senior Judge has occupied the Deputy Judge President post in Gauteng – the busiest division in the country – since 2013 and it remains to be seen how the JSC will tackle this hurdle.

Judge Ledwaba’s interview will sit on Tuesday, 14 April 2026.

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