The inquiry into the fitness of National Director of Public Prosecutions Mxolisi Nxasana to hold office was stopped before proceedings got under way yesterday.
The action fuelled speculation that Nxasana was on his way out of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Inquiry chairman advocate Nazeer Cassim SC said yesterday morning that the Presidency instructed him on Sunday night to “cease” the inquiry, which had been set down for six weeks.
The Presidency said in a statement later yesterday that President Jacob Zuma was “currently engaging with Nxasana with a view to taking decisions which are in the best interest of the NPA, Nxasana and the country at large”.
“The Presidency will communicate the outcome of such deliberations once they have been finalised, mindful of the need for certainty and confidence in the NPA,” Presidency spokesman Harold Maloka said.
Maloka could not be reached for further comment.
Nxasana’s attorney Busani Mabunda refused to comment, saying it would be inappropriate to do so at this stage.
Nxasana was appointed as NPA boss in August 2013. In July last year, Zuma notified Nxasana that he intended to suspend him following questions about his fitness to hold office.
Nxasana was never suspended after he approached the courts.
The inquiry was supposed to examine whether Nxasana was fit for office, having regard to his two previous convictions for violent conduct, complaints of professional misconduct laid against him with the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society and reported comments in the media which were unbecoming of a national director of prosecutions.
In his submissions to the inquiry dated May 4, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masutha said Nxasana’s failure to disclose convictions reflected adversely on his credibility, honesty and his fitness to be the NDPP.
The minister said the fact that Nxasana was charged with murder and acquitted when he was 18 years old was not disclosed to the president before his appointment. He only disclosed a conviction for assault in 1986.
On his conviction for assaulting his girlfriend in 1986, for which he was fined R50, Nxasana said the matter would nowadays have been resolved by way of alternative dispute resolution, adding that the assaults were not allegations of “serious misconduct”.
“Mr Nxasana seeks to minimise the seriousness of an act of gender violence, particularly taking into account the prevalence of conduct in our country,” advocates Hilton Epstein SC and Tshifhiwa Mabuda said in their submissions on behalf of Masutha.
Presidency slams brakes on Nxasana inquiry
The action fuelled speculation that Nxasana was on his way out of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Inquiry chairman advocate Nazeer Cassim SC said yesterday morning that the Presidency instructed him on Sunday night to “cease” the inquiry, which had been set down for six weeks.
The Presidency said in a statement later yesterday that President Jacob Zuma was “currently engaging with Nxasana with a view to taking decisions which are in the best interest of the NPA, Nxasana and the country at large”.
“The Presidency will communicate the outcome of such deliberations once they have been finalised, mindful of the need for certainty and confidence in the NPA,” Presidency spokesman Harold Maloka said.
Maloka could not be reached for further comment.
Nxasana’s attorney Busani Mabunda refused to comment, saying it would be inappropriate to do so at this stage.
Nxasana was appointed as NPA boss in August 2013. In July last year, Zuma notified Nxasana that he intended to suspend him following questions about his fitness to hold office.
Nxasana was never suspended after he approached the courts.
The inquiry was supposed to examine whether Nxasana was fit for office, having regard to his two previous convictions for violent conduct, complaints of professional misconduct laid against him with the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society and reported comments in the media which were unbecoming of a national director of prosecutions.
In his submissions to the inquiry dated May 4, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masutha said Nxasana’s failure to disclose convictions reflected adversely on his credibility, honesty and his fitness to be the NDPP.
The minister said the fact that Nxasana was charged with murder and acquitted when he was 18 years old was not disclosed to the president before his appointment. He only disclosed a conviction for assault in 1986.
On his conviction for assaulting his girlfriend in 1986, for which he was fined R50, Nxasana said the matter would nowadays have been resolved by way of alternative dispute resolution, adding that the assaults were not allegations of “serious misconduct”.
“Mr Nxasana seeks to minimise the seriousness of an act of gender violence, particularly taking into account the prevalence of conduct in our country,” advocates Hilton Epstein SC and Tshifhiwa Mabuda said in their submissions on behalf of Masutha.
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