Sachs was appointed to the Constitutional Court of South Africa by Nelson Mandela in 1994. His appointment was controversial, primarily because of his conduct at his JSC interview, where he was asked about his role in a report downplaying the ANC's indefinite detention and solitary confinement of Umkhonto we Sizwe commander Thami Zulu. One commissioner told Sachs his answers were "appalling" and criticised him for "sell his soul" by signing onto the report. One prominent lawyer later said that if Sachs's interview had been more widely publicised he "could not possibly have been on the Court". Sachs felt the criticism was unfair given his central role in ending torture in ANC camps.