‘Bulldog’ sharpens his bite
ADVOCATE Gerrie Nel has just two regrets in his career, and both relate to men who were accused of killing their wives.
Asked what riled him about his 36 years as a state prosecutor, Nel said: “That I never got to complete a matter where a Vereeniging policeman [allegedly] shot and killed his wife in bed, and what happened with the Nico Henning prosecution saga, which was dropped.”
In the first case, Flying Squad Sergeant Edward Kennedy Fox has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife, Che, at their family home in November 2014. The trial is continuing.
Henning was accused of masterminding the murder of his estranged wife, Chanelle, in Pretoria in 2011. But in October last year the charges were withdrawn without public explanation.
Nel, famous for his dogged prosecution of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius and disgraced police commissioner Jackie Selebi, stunned South Africa this week when he quit the National Prosecuting Authority and joined a new private prosecution unit launched by AfriForum.
AfriForum describes itself as a non-profit committed to defending minority rights, with a specific focus on Afrikaners. Nel’s decision to head the group’s new prosecution unit has raised eyebrows.
“People must understand what this is all about,” he said.
“They must understand that what we will run is not a new justice system or a parallel one.
“They must know that this is not competition to South Africa’s very capable prosecution system.”
It’s become his stock response to questions on how the private prosecution team will work.
AfriForum says Nel’s new unit will focus on fighting corruption and try to counter what it sees as “selective” prosecutions by the NPA. Can this project work? “We are here to test the perceptions out there,” Nel said.
“It will be premature to give examples of who we will prosecute, but let me tell you this, and it’s a concept that I live and practise by, everyone is equal before the law and we will ensure this.”
He understood the importance of each case being weighed on its merits, and not every matter should be prosecuted even when it could be.
“That reason you chose not to prosecute, that’s what we want to look at. What we want to do with this body is create and instil trust.”
But Nel, nicknamed the Bulldog, is the first to admit that his new job, while it will be rewarding, will be filled with frustration.
“It will be difficult, no doubt about that. If there are delays in decisions on whether to prosecute a matter, we will be obliged to direct people on the right path to follow.”
Asked about an internal investigation into him ordered by NPA chief Shaun Abrahams, Nel replied: “I have never heard of this investigation until now. I would have expected someone to tell me. I would have liked to respond.”
The investigation was sparked by a complaint from a Pretoria businessman about the way prosecutors handled cases in which he was involved. RIGHT THING TO DO: Gerrie Nel plans to keep fighting for justice
“I can say with certainty that it did not drive me to leave the NPA,” Nel said.
“It certainly didn’t inform my decision to resign. There will always be mudslinging and I am not concerned.”
On why he took up AfriForum’s offer, he said: “I never put myself on the job market. They were just the first to approach me, which was out of the blue, with an idea that they are willing and able to fund.”
He did not take the job out of political considerations but because “it is the right thing to do for the country”, he said.
“I was never asked about my politics, and if I had been, I wouldn’t have taken the job. If anyone else had approached me with a similar concept I would also have considered their offers.”
Let me tell you, everyone is equal before the law and we will ensure this