OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT BLACK LAWYERS ASSOCIATION
Black Lawyers Association (BLA) views the recent attacks on the integrity of the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Mr Mxolisi Nxasana in a very serious light. Such attacks are both unwarranted and unacceptable (see Daily News report).
We are seriously disturbed by the actions and timing of the former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Honourable Mr Jeff Radebe who called for the resignation of Mr. Mxolisi Nxasana due to his alleged failure to disclose an offence which he was acquitted on.
BLA is resolute that Mr Nxasana remains innocent of the murder charge, as he was acquitted by a competent Court of Law. He was not obliged to disclose the incident as same did not amount to a conviction. In this regard BLA fully supports the statement by the Advocates for Transformation (AFT) that to blame Mr Nxasana for not disclosing the case " It is like arguing that President Jacob Zuma should not have been competent to run for higher office because he had been charged, and acquitted of rape'.
BLA does not understand how on earth a person can be appointed to lead such an important institution when there has not been a proper background checks on him. The question of Mr Nxasana's fitness and properness to head the NPA cannot be genuinely raised now. Mr Nxasana has been declared fit and proper by the High Court of South Africa presided upon by two judges when he was admitted as an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa. Mr Nxasana in his admission application papers disclosed all his previous convictions which happened when he was still a teenager.
The Court of Law was satisfied that he has complied with the requirements of him being a fit and proper person to practice as an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa. He has been practising as such for the past seventeen years until the President of the Republic of South Africa appointed him as the head of the NPA.
To start casting aspersions on the person of the NDPP implies that the President did not act rationally in his appointment, which we believe is not the case. The organised legal profession never raised issues with the appointment of Mr Nxasana as the head of the National Prosecution Authority. Immediately after his appointment, the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) comprising of not less than twenty five thousand attorneys, was amongst the first professional organisations to congratulate him.
BLA is concerned with the continued and unabated instability within the office of the NPA because same undermines our democracy as envisaged in the Constitution. We strongly believe that now is the time that the apparent orchestrated campaign to destabilise the office of the NPA must come to an immediate end. Instability within the institution profits the corrupt and criminal forces in the society.
It is unfortunate that those who are ill-advising the President and calling for the resignation of the NDPP are, in fact implying that the President got it wrong once more in his appointment of the NDPP.
Mr Nxasana is an independent man who must not be condemned for his principled approach; instead he must be commended for that. Mr Mxasana has publicly declared that he owes his allegiance to the office of the NPA, the people of South Africa and no one else.
On the 31 August 2013, the BLA in its congratulatory press statement stated that "Mr. Nxasana is a polite, well-mannered and highly principled man. He is accessible and easy to associate with; but highly intelligent. His approach to issues has always been objective and professional. Mr. Nxasana has the intelligence and skill to balance independence with team work. He is sharp in taking important decisions and asking incisive questions, which are perfect qualities and attributes of a good leader of the institutions like the National Prosecuting Authority"
As an organisation, we reiterate what we said in our congratulatory message when we said " BLA believes that if given the space and the necessary support Mr. Nxasana will carry out his constitutional mandate in terms of section 179(2) and (5) of the Constitution without fear, favour or prejudice."
We implore once again that he be given the necessary support to carry out his constitutional mandate.
We accordingly would like to put on record that we unreservedly support Mr Nxasana and that the frivolous campaign being meted out against him are without substance and are not legally sustainable so as to affect his suitability to hold the office which the President soundly appointed him to.
Statement issued by P.B. Mabunda, President of Black Lawyers Association, June 2 2014
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