The African National Congress (ANC) has apologised for using an image of Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya on a campaign poster it shared on its social media pages on Saturday.
The ANC along with other political parties were on the charm offensive and in intense election campaign drive as the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) holds its first voter registration weekend.
The poster in question was shared on the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the ANC. It displayed an image of Justice Maya with the tagline, “The future is transformation - Justice Mandisa Maya (first female deputy chief justice).”
Above the image was a caption that read, “Don’t let your voice go unheard. Register to vote ANC and make a difference in your community and in South Africa. Visit your local voting station.”
In a statement issued by the Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) shortly after the ANC’s social media post, it said that this was an inappropriate use of the Justice Maya’s image in an election campaign poster which was not authorised by Justice Maya or the OCJ.
The OCJ also stated for the record that Justice Maya was not a member of the ANC or any other political party.
“This unauthorised use of the Deputy Chief Justice’s image has the potential to unduly bring the Judiciary into disrepute as well undermining the integrity of the Judiciary as section 165(2) of the Constitution provides that the courts are independent and subject only to the Constitution and the law, which they must apply without fear, favour or prejudice.
“It is expected that those responsible for this unauthorised use of the Deputy Chief Justice’s image, immediately desist and remove it from all online platforms where it has been published, and to publicly and unreservedly apologise to the Deputy Chief Justice for this unfortunate incident,” the OCJ statement read.
Shortly afterwards, in a post on X, the ANC said it regretted any offence caused to Justice Mandisa Maya.
The ANC regrets any offence caused to Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya when a poster with her image was posted on our X page without her consent.
— African National Congress (@MYANC) November 18, 2023
We intended to celebrate the significant progress and transformation made in all areas of society, including the judiciary, where…
“We intended to celebrate the significant progress and transformation made in all areas of society, including the judiciary, where Justice Maya is widely respected.
“The ANC unreservedly apologises to the DCJ on this oversight.”