The narrative suggesting that Justice Maya's appointment is merely to fulfil gender diversity requirements rather than being based on merit is both unfortunate and unfounded.

Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya faces the formidable task of providing stellar leadership and preventing the fragmentation of the judiciary. Before delving deeper into this opinion piece, let me state a disclaimer: I have supported the nomination of Justice Maya as the country's Chief Justice since her first candidacy against Chief Justice Raymond Zondo and others, and I continue to support her nomination this time around.

I still firmly believe, as I have expressed on this platform and elsewhere, that Maya is the ideal candidate to become the country's next Chief Justice.

I do sometimes make time to read comments on articles in Daily Maverick as they provide a glimpse into societal feelings and laypersons' opinions. One particular view that caught my attention was related to an article penned by Rebecca Davis, titled "Judge Mandisa Maya will be SA-First female chief justice but is anyone paying attention".

"Let's be brutally honest, she was appointed for 'gender diversity' (because she's female, not male); and not on merit -- both of which are unfortunate for the judiciary, the rule of law and jurisprudence," one anonymous commenter wrote.

The narrative suggesting that Justice Maya's appointment is merely to fulfil gender...