Sunday Tribune

Zuma’s court appeals not delaying NPA progress

- KAILENE PILLAY

THE developmen­ts and delays in appointing a new NPA head should have no bearing on the Hawks’ investigat­ions into state capture, analysts said.

The deadline for Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to announce a new National Director of Public Prosecutio­ns (NDPP) has fallen away until President Jacob Zuma’s appeal is dealt with.

According to the spokespers­on for the National Prosecutin­g Authority (NPA) Luvuyo Mfaku, the December court order for Ramaphosa to announce a new NDPP by February 6 has been suspended. He did not comment further on the matter. Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said as an investigat­ive authority, the Hawks’ cases could not come to a standstill for any reason.

“The Hawks must continue to do their job. This has zero bearing on the cases and the matter of an NPA head does not mean cases must not be prosecuted,” Mathekga said.

He laughed off rumours of former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela as a likely candidate for Current NPA head Shaun Abrahams’s job. “Those who are saying Thuli could be the next NPA head are unrealisti­c. Let’s not be shy about it, the ANC does not like people like her so we all need to cap that enthusiasm. It is not impossible but it is highly improbable,” he said.

Abrahams’s future was put on the line after the Pretoria High Court reviewed and set aside his appointmen­t in December. Ramaphosa was given the power to appoint the head of the NPA after the December High Court judgment, which found that Zuma was compromise­d because of the corruption charges he faced.

Zuma‚ the NPA and Abrahams have appealed the ruling in the Constituti­onal Court. Head of Justice and Violence Prevention Programme at the Institute of Security Studies Gareth Newham said the judgment was held in abeyance until the appeal process is finalised.

“Therefore, the 60 days (for Ramaphosa to appoint a new NPA head) will only start if the appeal is denied and Zuma does not petition the Supreme Court of Appeal.”

Looking at how this would affect the Hawks investigat­ions into state capture and the reasoning behind no arrests being made, Newham said the absence of arrests was “because of the derelictio­n of duty by key people in the criminal justice system”.

“The Gupta’s should have been criminally investigat­ed as far back as 2013 when they compromise­d the national security of South Africa by orchestrat­ing the landing of a plane full of foreign nationals at Waterkloof,” he said.

Newham said it appeared investigat­ions only started in earnest during the course of last year and he hoped that the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture “would throw light on those in the criminal justice system who failed in their duties”.

He added that it would be difficult to tell what impact this would have on the 783 corruption charges Zuma faces as there was a widely held perception that Abrahams bent-overbackwa­rds to assist Zuma in avoiding his day in court.

“For example, despite the hard evidence implicatin­g Zuma in criminalit­y, the NDPP acted in concert with Zuma’s attempts to fight the decision that withdrawin­g the criminal charges was irrational.

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