Head of National Prosecuting Authority may not be a political appointment

13 August 2018

The appointment of the head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) must from now be done without any political influence or interference to ensure that the office has more credibility. 

The Constitutional Court's ruling today on the unlawfulness of Adv Shaun Abrahams' appointment as the head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) merely served to highlight the calculated role that former President Jacob Zuma played in Abrahams' appointment.

It is, therefore, encouraging that the Constitutional Court determined that the National Prosecuting Authority Act must be amended within eighteen months seeing as certain aspects of the Act are unconstitutional.

One amendment that the FF Plus will insist on is that the president may no longer play any role in the appointment of the NPA head.

In order to avoid any and all political interference with the appointment, it would also not be wise to let Parliament alone make the appointment.

The FF Plus is of the opinion that an independent committee, consisting of legal experts, must be established and must cooperate with Parliament in making the appointment so as to leave no room for doubt regarding the independence of the NPA and its head.

It is also of the utmost importance that this process commences as soon as possible, because the office of the NPA has been paralysed by the legal battle concerning its head – just like the Constitutional Court pointed out in its ruling.

Issued by Corné Mulder, FF Plus chief whip and parliamentary spokesperson: Justice, 13 August 2018