Zuma’s appointees will have to prove their independence

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma finally appointed a permanent head of the National Prosecuting Authority on Friday, thereby hopefully ending five years of instability at this crucial institution. Not enough is known of Durban-based Mxolisi Nxasana to make a fair assessment of whether he will make a significant impact as national director of public prosecutions.

A quick glance at his résumé suggests that he meets all the minimum legal requirements for holding the job and that his appointment is unlikely to end up being successfully challenged in the courts like that of his predecessor, Menzi Simelane.

But is Nxasana the best man for the job? We do not know, because Zuma has not taken the nation into his confidence in terms of why he chose this former president of the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society.

We agree with the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution — whose threat of legal action ultimately forced Zuma to make the appointment — that the process of choosing the new director is flawed.

The post, which is central to ensuring a functioning criminal justice system, is too important for the head of state not to reveal what persuaded him that Nxasana was the most suitable candidate for the job.

This is especially important in the context of the continuing controversy about the 2009 decision by the NPA to drop its corruption case against Zuma.

The president’s long delay before appointing the new director of prosecutions led to the suspicion that he was unable to do so for fear of ending up with someone independent enough to have no qualms about reinstating those charges.

A perception was created that the president was searching for a chief prosecutor who would maintain the NPA’s approach of frustrating every attempt by the Democratic Alliance to have the decision to drop the charges reviewed by South Africa’s courts.

Nxasana will thus have his work cut out for him in the next few months to convince the public that he will be a fiercely independent chief prosecutor willing to act without fear or favour — especially in matters concerning the man who appointed him.

He is certainly not the first director of prosecutions to be appointed amid suspicions of political bias. When Bulelani Ngcuka took up the post in 1998, some criticised the appointment on the basis that he had been an ANC MP and presiding officer in one of the houses of parliament. Similar criticism was made of his successor, Vusi Pikoli — a former ANC guerilla who had also served as the justice department’s director-general.

Both Ngcuka and Pikoli, however, went on to prove themselves to be extremely independent and, under their watch, the NPA prosecuted some of the most powerful political figures in South Africa.

Despite the circumstances of his appointment, Nxasana has an opportunity to follow Ngcuka’s and Pikoli’s leads and, in the process, help to restore the credibility of an institution that has been under sustained political assault ever since it took on Zuma and his associates on corruption charges in the early 2000s.

The same applies to advocate Vas Soni, who has been appointed to head the Special Investigating Unit, which fights corruption.

Despite reservations we may have about the process and the individuals Zuma has chosen, the fact remains that the two positions are now finally occupied.

The responsibility now lies with Nxasana and Soni to win the nation’s confidence through their actions.