Staff Reporter
THREE senior lawyers have nominated Western Cape High Court Judge Siraj Desai as the next public protector.
The nomination, supported by advocate Denzil Potgieter SC, Igshaan Higgins and advocate Joel Krige described him as an extraordinary leader.
This week, chairman of the ad hoc committee established to nominate the new public protector, Makhosi Khoza, announced that it had received 21 nominations and applications for the position.
Parliamentary spokesperson Temba Gubula would not comment on the nomination yesterday as the deadline for submissions closes today.
Judge Desai – who marks his 30 years on the bench next week – confirmed he had accepted the nomination.
Born in Cape Town, Judge Desai matriculated from Trafalgar High School in District Six.
After completing a Bachelor of Arts and law degree at the University of Durban-Westville, he started his career as a clerk to now retired Judge Essa Moosa and spent many years working with SA’s first post-apartheid minister of justice, Dullah Omar.
The political and social unrest in 1976 prompted Judge Desai to become a human rights lawyer.
Becoming an advocate of the Cape Bar in 1981, his clients included community leaders and accused freedom fighters in Cape Town and the Eastern Cape.
In 1993 he represented uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in the Motsuenyana Commission established to inquire into human rights violations in ANC detention centres outside the country.
In 1995, he was appointed to the bench of the then Cape Supreme Court.
Judge Desai has presided over major cases in the country’s history, including the highly publicised Taliep Petersen murder trial, but more recently the precedent setting judgment on garnishee orders.
The committee tables its preferred candidate for public protector to the National Assembly on August 31.