Get rid of all the vipers
SHAUN Abrahams’s removal from the post of national director of public prosecutions is welcomed as he is evidently too aligned to the Jacob Zuma faction of the ANC to trust that he could fulfill the requirements of this critical post in an impartial manner.
Where everybody else – outside of the Zuma faction – could see that the former president had a case – several, in fact – to answer, Abrahams demurred and dithered, earning himself the “Shaun the Sheep” nickname. He was also unable to prosecute Zuma’s son, Duduzane, on culpable homicide charges despite the recommendation of a court. Neither could he discipline his staff for obstruction of justice, again despite the recommendation of a court.
This was because, like himself, they were all Zuma appointees put in place to ensure the former president would not be prosecuted. He only seemed to find his feet once Zuma had left office, deciding that, indeed, the State had a winnable case against the former president. It would be tempting to think that the woes which plagued the National Prosecuting Authority during the Zuma years are over with Abrahams’s departure, but that would be a mistake as there are tainted individuals still in their positions at the NPA. These include Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwepi, the two deputy directors found by a judge not to be “fit and proper” for their jobs.
This concerned their decision to drop charges against former Crime Intelligence head Richard Mdluli, who faced charges including that he had dipped into a secret slush fund. The pair’s fate now rests in the hands of President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has initiated the process to suspend and subject them to disciplinary processes. Abrahams was himself castigated by a court for being a Zuma lackey. It is therefore unsettling that while the Constitutional Court declared his appointment as national prosecutions chief invalid, it did not make a pronouncement on his fitness to hold office.
This means that Abrahams, Zuma’s stooge, is possibly still eligible to return to a role in the NPA. We find this unacceptable. Abrahams, who sacrificed his integrity to keep Zuma out of court, should never again be in a position to influence prosecutorial decisions. If Ramaphosa is serious about cleaning up, he needs to rid the nest of all vipers, not just a few.