NPA boss meets submission deadline
Gives reasons why Zuma should not suspend him
IN A twist of irony, National Prosecuting Authority head Shaun Abrahams was yesterday fighting to keep his job and pleading his case to a man also fighting to keep his job, President Jacob Zuma. Zuma was facing pressure from all fronts yesterday, but at the same time managed to continue to conduct his state business when he hosted Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni.
He also had to consider the submission made by Abrahams who had submitted reasons as to why he should not be suspended pending an inquiry into his fitness to hold office over the charges brought against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Zuma’s spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga said Abrahams had met yesterday’s deadline, but stopped short of disclosing the contents of the NPA boss’s submission.
At the centre of the Abrahams debacle, in addition to the Gordhan fiasco in which the charges against the minister were hastily withdrawn, is a meeting at Luthuli House between Zuma, Justice Minister Michael Masutha and Abrahams a day before the charges were brought.
Zuma and Masutha denied Gordhan was discussed at the meeting, saying it centred around the ongoing student protests.
Abrahams made a similar statement in Parliament when he was questioned about the venue for the meeting.
Opposition parties said it was undesirable for a government official to hold meetings with ministers and state organ leaders in party offices.
Should Zuma suspend, and possibly fire Abrahams, he would not be the first NPA boss to fail to serve a full term.
He’s been in office for 17 months. His predecessor, Mxolisi Nxsana, was in office for 18 months when he was reportedly handed a golden handshake.
Last week Freedom Under Law and the Helen Suzman Foundation lost their urgent application in the North Gauteng High Court for Zuma to suspend Abrahams, with a full bench dismissing the application, saying it was not urgent.