Durban - "I would've accepted the corruption trial of former deputy president Jacob Zuma if I had been asked to hear it."

This was said by Judge Thabani Jali in breaking his silence over his decision to resign from the bench after just eight months as deputy judge president of the Natal Provincial Division - or second in charge of the province's courts after the judge president, Vuka Tshabalala.

Judge Jali's resignation means that he can no longer be considered for presiding over the politically sensitive Zuma trial, although he has been cited in a number of media reports as a strong candidate, alongside Judge Tshabalala.

He said he hadn't had any discussions with Judge Tshabalala, who will be making the appointment, over possibly hearing the case. "It was not put to me," he said on Tuesday.

"I wouldn't have turned it down if asked to take it on. As a judge, you are supposed to judge without fear or favour. I would have dealt with it," he said. The case is such an important one that it will definitely go on appeal, he added.

He cited as proof of his willingness to accept challenging tasks the Jali Commission of Inquiry into corruption in prisons which, he said, many others had been too scared to tackle.

Family obligations

Judge Jali handed the final 1 500-page report of the inquiry to President Thabo Mbeki on December 15 last year. The President will consider the report and make a decision on when to make the findings public, he said.

He declined to divulge any details of his job offer in the private sector. "It would be inappropriate at this stage as we are still finalising the details of the relationship we will have and fine-tuning a couple of things," he said.

He said that his family obligations were one of his considerations in making the decision to leave the bench, as he has school-going children. A judge works long hours, seven days a week, he said. The new position would be an exciting challenge for him and was a return to the private sector in which he had worked before as an attorney.

As at January 2005, a deputy judge president earned a salary of R619 000 plus benefits, said justice department spokesperson Kaiser Khanyago.

Meanwhile, the process of finding his replacement has begun, as he is due to leave his office at the end of February. No nominations have been received as yet, said Judge Tshabalala.

The three people who were interviewed for the post alongside Judge Jali in April last year were Judge Phillip Levinsohn, sitting at Durban High Court, Judge Justice Poswa, who presides at the Pretoria High Court and Judge Leona Theron, presiding at the Pietermaritzburg High Court.

A spokesperson for the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) said the post had been advertised on Tuesday and the closing date for nominations is February 17. Candidates will be interviewed by the JSC in Cape Town from April 3 to 6.

With acknowledgements to Lindsay Barnes and The Witness.