NPA head is ‘unfit’ for job – DA

THE DA is to ask parliament to institute a full inquiry led by the justice committee into the appointment of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Mxolisi Nxasana.

DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane told journalists yesterday they would also recommend changes to the process and procedure of appointing the next National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP).

“The NDPP ... is required by law and the constitution to be a fit and proper person,” said Maimane.

The party’s call comes in the wake of reports that Nxasana and former Justice Minister Jeff Radebe had been at loggerheads over his refusal to resign after his fitness to hold office had been called into question.

This followed revelations that he could not be granted a security clearance because he had not declared that he faced a murder charge in the past from which he was acquitted. Maimane, flanked by former NPA prosecutor and new DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach, said if media reports that Nxasana was considering resurrecting corruption and fraud charges against former boss Richard Mdluli were true, and he was receiving resistance, then his office may have been manipulated for political goals.

“Political interference in the NPA, to date, has left our prosecutorial integrity in tatters. Rocked by scandal after scandal, the NPA has been left with an extremely poor reputation where the South African people do not believe that it is capable of putting criminals behind bars,” he said.

Although the ANC is to announce who it will appoint as the new chairman of the justice committee, Maimane said he would immediately request a special sitting of the committee to hold an inquiry to probe Nxasana’s appointment.

Maimane said his party would push for Radebe, Nxasana and President Jacob Zuma’s lawyer Michael Hulley, who is also alleged to have influenced Nxasana’s appointment, to all be summoned before the committee.

The ANC said that since the parliamentary committees were still being created the party did not want to pre-empt a decision of a particular committee.

“Similarly, the DA should not seek to jump the gun and thereby undermine the procedures of parliament through political posturing."

The scandals included the removal of former NDPP Vusi Pikoli who was fired following misconduct findings by the Frene Ginwala Commission of Inquiry into his involvement in the reinstatement of corruption charges against former police commissioner Jackie Selebi.

The appointment of Pikoli’s successor was also overturned by the Constitutional Court as an “irrational decision” for his role in the Selebi matter when still the director-general of justice.