Death of Nxasana Inquiry paves way for golden handshake
11 May 2015
Reports this today confirming the termination of the Inquiry instituted by President Jacob Zuma into South Africa’s prosecutions boss, Mxolisi Nxasana, are deeply disturnbing and do not bode well for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
The DA believes that the termination of the Inquiry paves the way for the President to push Mr Nxasana out of office by offering him a payoff. This has increasingly become the ANC’s way of ridding themselves of those who try to carry out their duties without fear or favour. The DA believes that Mr Zuma and his allies will put pressure on him to go quietly, which will allow for Zuma to install a National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) of his choosing in order for him to stay out of court on the hundreds of corruption charges that were conveniently dropped prior to him becoming President.
Just last week it was reported that Ivan Pillay was paid an undisclosed amount in exchange for his departure from the South African Revenue Service (SARS). Last month Hawks boss, Anwa Dramat, was pressured to accept a R13 million payoff because he dared to call for the Nkandla and other contentious files.
The President, on Saturday 5 July 2014, announced that he would institute an inquiry into the fitness of Mr Nxasana for trying to restore integrity to the NPA. Nxasana’s attempts to reinstate charges of murder, kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice against disgraced Crime Intelligence Head, Richard Mdluli, have put his job on the line. It is no secret that Mdluli is a close ally of Zuma and was deployed to crime intelligence to protect the President from accountability.
The NPA has long been rocked by scandal after scandal at the hands of several politically expedient national directors whose fundamental preoccupation has not been to defend the Constitution and the rule of law but rather to protect President Zuma and his ever-deepening network of patronage. President Zuma has successfully appointed national directors of the NPA that represent the worst in our prosecutorial system. From Menzi Simelane, to the disgrace that is the sitting Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), to Mokotedi Mpshe who was single-handedly responsible for the dropping of 783 charges of corruption levelled against the President.
The DA will make every effort to ensure that the public remains fully informed of the details surrounding the termination of the Nxasana Inquiry. Our criminal justice system is at stake and the continuing instability at the NPA is completely untenable and against the public interest. A stable, functional and independent legal system where all are equal before the law, no matter how politically connected is essential for the success of a constitutional democracy.
Statement issued by Adv Glynnis Breytenbach MP, DA Shadow Minister of Justice, May 11 2015
