South Africa's Office of the Chief Justice has slammed the ruling party, African National Congress (ANC), for using the image of Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya on its campaign material.
On Saturday, ANC had posted on its X handle (@MYANC) Maya's picture, urging unregistered voters to enroll ahead of 2024 elections.
"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. #RegisterToVoteANC," the party's post on X, which was accompanied by Maya's image, said.
"The Office of the Chief Justice wishes to inform the public that this inappropriate use of the deputy chief justice's image in an election campaign poster was not authorised by Deputy Chief Justice Maya or the Office of the Chief Justice.
'Not a member of political party'
"For the record, Deputy Chief Justice Maya is not a member of the ANC or any other political party. Article 12(1)(a) of the Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits judges from belonging any political party," South Africa's Judiciary said in a statement on Saturday.
"This unauthorised use of the deputy chief justice's image has the potential to unduly bring the Judiciary into disrepute as well (as) 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 unauthonsed 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."
ANC party has since apologised and deleted the tweet bearing Maya's image.
Dwindling popularity
"The ANC regrets any offence caused to the Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya when a poster with her image was posted on our X page without her consent. 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," the party said on X.
Political parties in South Africa are pushing for more unregistered voters to enroll ahead of next year's polls.
This comes as the popularity of ANC, which has been in power since South Africa's independence in 1994, dwindles, threatening to affect its majority in parliament in the upcoming election.
