NDPP Abrahams confirms he is another Zuma-Jiba acolyte
10 August 2015
Reports in yesterday’s City Press, alleging that the almost two-month-old National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Adv Shaun Abrahams, wishes to drop the charges levelled against his disgraced deputy, Nomgcobo Jiba, are of concern and do not bode well for the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) ability to discharge its mandate independently and without fear, favour or prejudice (see here).
There is now good reason to raise alarm bells about Abrahams’ very appointment by President Jacob Zuma to this position.
The City Press reported that Adv Abrahams is preparing criminal charges against former SARS head, Ivan Pillay and former Hawks head, Anwa Dramat. Most disturbing is that he is also set to drop charges against Nomgcobo Jiba and Commercial Crimes head, Lawrence Mrwebi.
This would be an inexplicable move by NDPP considering that both Jiba and Mrwrebi have been severely indicted by various courts for their improper conduct as senior NPA office bearers. In April this year Jiba and Mwrebi were slated by the Bar Council who believe that they are both an embarrassment to the legal profession and should be struck off the Roll of Advocates and suspended from their current posts. This is just the latest indictment in a laundry list of offences these individuals have inflicted on the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
If these reports are true it will confirm that President Jacob Zuma used his appointing authority in terms of Section 179 of the Constitution to get rid of Adv Mxolisi Nxasana who attempted to restore the NPA and installed yet another henchman who looks set to pick up where Menzi Simelane and Mokotedi Mpshe left off; to continue the campaign to discredit anyone who acts justly and with independence, ensure that those close to the President are protected and make sure that he never sees the inside of a court room with the looming Spy Tapes debacle.
This appointment was made just 19 days after the departure of the last incumbent, Mxolisi Nxasana, who was paid to leave after serving just one year of a ten-year contract. Nxasana was appointed after a period of around two years without a permanent head, and then only when the President was left with no choice as a result of court action by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC).
Now, with almost indecent haste, a relatively junior member of the NPA is catapulted over the likes of seasoned Directors of Public Prosecutions, and more seriously, over the likes of Dr Silas Ramaite SC or Willie Hofmeyr, both Deputy National Directors for more than a decade who have acted in the position countless times.
This appears to have been by nefarious design and not because Adv Abrahams was the best person for the job.
If Adv Abrahams makes good on his threats I will put it to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services that Adv Abrahams be summoned before the Committee in terms of Section 35(1) of the NPA Act to brief the Committee on the rationality of the decision to drop the charges against Zuma's cohort in the NPA.
In a fair society envisioned by the DA, all South African will be equal before the law, including high-ranking officials, as is consistent with our constitutional democratic order. Only through this culture can ordinary South Africans respect and value our prosecuting authority.
Statement issued by Adv Glynnis Breytenbach MP, DA Shadow Minister of Justice, August 10 2015
