TIME TO BE FIERCE, FEARLESS

Cyril Ramaphosa has five weeks to stamp his authority on SA politics and make the most important decision of his presidency: to appoint a competent person to replace the hapless Shaun Abrahams as head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Appointing a competent person who will tackle their job fearlessly will be the single most important step to restoring the collective dignity of the people, and a major step towards winning the confidence of the investing community.

Ramaphosa knows only too well that stimulus packages won’t do a better job than restoring the rule of law. He surely knows that no sane businessperson will invest their and their clients’ money in a lawless society.

Abrahams was the most important anchor of the Jacob Zuma regime, of which Ramaphosa and his comrades in the ANC were a key component. They all presided over a calculated campaign to strip the country of the ability to prosecute even the most mundane of crimes.

The result is that we are more competent murderers than many of the warlords in war zones such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Afghanistan and Nigeria. Just look at our crime statistics. We’re also world leaders in other crimes, such as rape and corruption. In fact, in addition to our homegrown criminals, SA has been chosen by all kinds of foreign criminals as a good base from which to operate — think of high-profile gangsters such as Radovan Krejcir, Vito Palazzolo and Ananias Mathe.

If we had a professional prosecutions service, to this list we could possibly add many of the suited ones at Mckinsey & Co, Bain & Co, many members of parliament, and the Guptas and their associates.

Appointing a professional, ruthless and fearless prosecutor would be a good start to reverse this rotten state of affairs. That person needs to have one mandate only, that bestowed on the national director of public prosecutions by section 179 of the constitution: “The prosecuting authority has the power to institute criminal proceedings on behalf of the state, and to carry out any necessary functions incidental to instituting criminal proceedings.”

Internal ANC politics

There is no shortage of suitably qualified candidates for this key position. The SA legal fraternity has produced some of the best in their profession globally. I am not going to suggest any names, as that would help “tarnish” the candidate.

It was mid-august that the Constitutional Court ruled Ramaphosa must fill the position in 90 days. So whatever is holding him back from finalising the appointment has nothing to do with any shortage of suitably qualified candidates.

A lot of the delay obviously has to do with internal ANC politics. Many in the highest levels of the party were never going to agree to the appointment of a fierce, competent and fearless prosecutor. No turkey will ever vote for Christmas. In fact, a former head of the NPA — an ANC insider — once told me he’d reluctantly accepted the job, because he knew he’d have to mercilessly deal with many of his own comrades.

They later got rid of him, of course.

But Ramaphosa must ignore his comrades and claim the authority conferred on him by the constitution and appoint an NPA head.

That may just prolong the party’s time in power. No doubt none of the comrades needs to be reminded how well that “collective leadership” cover worked out. At any rate, no ANC politician who wants their party to win the elections next year would object to the appointment of a competent prosecutor.

So get on with it, Sir. We have no time to waste.

They all presided over a calculated campaign to strip the country of the ability to prosecute crimes