NEWS & ANALYSIS

Shaun Abrahams' appointment as NPA boss invalid - ConCourt

Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga says President Zuma acted unconstitutionally in pushing NDPP Mxolisi Nxasana out of office

ConCourt finds Abrahams' appointment as NPA boss unconstitutional and invalid

The Constitutional Court found on Monday that the appointment of National Prosecuting Authority boss Shaun Abrahams was unconstitutional and invalid.

Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga said former president Jacob Zuma's decision to terminate Abraham's predecessor Mxolisi Nxasana position as the National Director of Public Prosecutions was an abuse of power and that the Abrahams was a beneficiary of that abuse.

Thus the appointment of Abrahams was unconstitutional as well.

On December 8, 2017, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria previously declared former president Jacob Zuma's conduct in the matter as unconstitutional.

Judge Dunstan Mlambo ordered President Cyril Ramaphosa in December 2017 - while he was still deputy president - to appoint a new head of the NPA after the court declared the post vacant.

Mlambo ruled it would not be just for the former prosecutions boss Mxolisi Nxasana to be reinstated and that due to his pending corruption case, Zuma was conflicted in appointing an NDPP.

It was revealed in June that Ramaphosa was waiting for the Constitutional Court judgment on Abrahams before making a decision on his position.

News24