ConCourt move could see president’s appeal fail
THE Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac) is confident President Jacob Zuma’s appeal against the high court ruling declaring Shaun Abrahams’s appointment as national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) unlawful will not succeed.
Casac executive director Lawson Naidoo said it was Zuma’s tactic to delay legal matters against him.
“We are very confident that the order of the high court will be confirmed by the Constitutional Court.”
Casac was to launch an application to the Constitutional Court yesterday for a confirmation order because last week’s judgment dealt with a constitutional issue and that order was not effective until it was confirmed by the Constitutional Court‚ Naidoo said.
The Pretoria High Court last week ruled that Abrahams’s appointment as current prosecutions boss was invalid and that Zuma could not select his replacement as he was conflicted.
Zuma himself faces possible prosecution on 783 corruption- related charges.
The court gave Zuma’s deputy‚ Cyril Ramaphosa‚ 30 days to find a replacement for Abrahams.
The ruling stemmed from an application lodged by Casac‚ Freedom Under Law and Corruption Watch‚ who had questioned a golden handshake given to Abrahams’s predecessor‚ Mxolisi Nxasana.
But Zuma’s legal team will argue that the court erred by ruling that he was unable to exercise his powers as president of the country when it came to appointing an NDPP, yet at the same time be able to perform his other functions as president.
It was not constitutionally permissible to have two presidents at the same time‚ both exercising presidential powers‚ their application said. Naidoo said the impact of the application for a confirmation order was that it effectively by-passed the Supreme Court of Appeal, and Zuma’s appeal would have to be heard at the same time as the confirmation order application by the ConCourt.
Casac yesterday also filed a notice with the high court to oppose Zuma’s appeal application.
Corruption Watch head David Lewis also said they would oppose the appeal.
Meanwhile, the Cape Law Society said it regretted statements attributed to ANC Women’s League president Bathabile Dlamini, who appeared to suggest at a rally in Durban that the high court was “lobbied” before it ruled in favour of the applicants.
“Attacks on the judiciary undermine the standing of the courts in the minds of the people,” the society said.
The National Association of Democratic Lawyers (Nadel) said it was appalled by the state of affairs within the NPA.
It said the NDPP term was 10 years‚ but the past 17 years had seen seven NPA heads.