Other public service

While on the High Court bench, Seriti served as a member of the South African Law Reform Commission.^[2] He also served a term as the judge designated to approve communications interceptions under the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act. That period coincided with the highly sensitive wiretap that led to the so-called spy tapes, recorded in late 2007, which in turn led the National Prosecuting Authority to withdraw its corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma; however, Seriti later said that he could not recall whether he had authorised the wiretap in question.^[11][12]

In October 2009, President Zuma appointed Seriti as the chairperson of the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers.^[13] He served a full five-year term in that position before he was succeeded by Cagney Musi in October 2014.^[14]

Constitutional Court nomination

In September 2009, the Judicial Service Commission interviewed Seriti as a candidate for possible elevation to one of four vacant seats in the Constitutional Court of South Africa. During his interview, held in Soweto, Seriti was asked to explain why his CV did not disclose his tenure as an interceptions judge; he said that he had believed that such disclosure would be illegal.^[15] The Judicial Service Commission did not recommend him for elevation,^[16] and sources told News24 that he had been eliminated from the contest in the second of three rounds of voting by the Judicial Service Commission.^[17]

Inquiry proceedings

On 24 October 2011, President Zuma announced the establishment of a commission of inquiry tasked with allegations of fraud, corruption, impropriety and irregularity in the 1999 Strategic Defence Procurement Package, better known as the Arms Deal; he also named Seriti as the commission's chairperson.^[21] Better known as the Arms Procurement Commission, the Arms Deal Commission, or the Seriti Commission, the inquiry was wracked with high-profile resignations – including the resignation of two successive commissioners, judges Willem van der Merwe and Francis Legodi, before the commission even held its first hearings.^[22]

The commission ultimately sat as a two-man panel, composed of Seriti and judge Hendrick Musi, with its first hearings held in August 2013.^[23] After its term was repeatedly extended, it ultimately closed on 30 June 2015.^[24][25] By that time, several other employees of the commission had resigned;^[24] one of them, attorney Norman Moabi, accused Seriti of pursuing a "second agenda",^[26] and Seriti was also accused of nepotism in the administration of the commission.^[27][28] The final report of the commission was submitted to President Zuma on 30 December 2015.^[29]

Subsequent legal action

In August 2019, Judge President Dunstan Mlambo of the Gauteng High Court set aside the Seriti Commission's findings, on the basis that it had omitted to admit, interrogate and pursue relevant evidence and thus had failed to comprehensively investigate the matters set out in its terms of reference.^[30][31][32] The ruling was a result of a review application by Corruption Watch and Right2Know.^[33] In November 2021, more than two years after the judgement, Seriti and Musi applied to appeal the High Court's decision to overturn the commission's findings, saying that the judgement was being "used as a whip to harass us",^[34] but they were denied leave to appeal in September 2022.^[35]

Meanwhile, in 2021, the Judicial Conduct Committee of the Judicial Service Commission heard a complaint about alleged misconduct by Seriti and Musi during the course of the Seriti Commission.^[36][37] However, ahead of the JCC hearings, Seriti and Musi submitted a court application to halt the process, challenging the constitutionality of the provision of the Judicial Service Commission Act which allowed misconduct proceedings against retired judges, such as themselves;^[36] that application was dismissed in April 2023.^[38]