Lobbyists want Shaun’s head before Zuma decision
police personnel.
“We don’t want to pre-empt things, but we have made plans. We have a list of highrisk areas and we have plans to handle this. We also have the assistance of the SANDF and they will be called in, depending on the severity of the situation.
“We also have metro police and other law-enforcement agencies that will assist when needed. Police and the SANDF will also be using helicopters to pick up and drop officers off in emergencies. Officers who can assist will be deployed in areas where they are needed,” he said.
Brigadier Jorina Zandberg, provincial head of the Operational Command Centre, said officers stationed at collection points, police stations, training centres and other facilities will be able to receive their allocation of water.
“There will be water made available to our officers at the collection points and wherever they find themselves. They will be relieved to ensure that there are no gaps.” LOBBY group Casac (Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution) wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove beleaguered National Prosecutions Authority (NPA) boss Shaun Abrahams.
They want him to appoint someone else in the interim ahead of the looming decision on former president Jacob Zuma’s prosecution, the Constitutional Court heard.
Geoff Budlender, for Casac, argued that the issue was not only about whether to prosecute but who would be in charge of such a task.
Justice Sisi Khampepe asked why the public should not trust Abrahams.
Budlender replied: “He has been sucked in… and is also a possible player in this dispute about whether Mr Zuma should be prosecuted… he resisted prosecution.
“Second, he was appointed as a result of unlawful scheming and manoeuvring by the former president.”
He added that too many people within the NPA carried the “toxic baggage” arising from the tug-of-war regarding the reinstatement of corruption charges against Zuma.
Casac brought the matter to the highest court in the land and is seeking a confirmation order as per the North Gauteng High Court’s December ruling setting aside Abrahams’s appointment by Zuma in 2015.
The organisation does not want Abrahams to oversee the pending decision on whether to prosecute Zuma or not, arguing that he is conflicted.
The NPA and Abrahams are opposing Casac’s application, arguing that his appointment was valid, adding that the high court erred in setting aside his appointment. The case was heard by a full bench of justices, with Justice Khampepe leading the sitting. – African News Agency (ANA)