DA vows to contest new NDPP appointment amid concerns over integrity
DA's Glynnis Breytenbach says the party will turn to court to challenge the process to pinpoint the new NDPP as it feels the procedure is tainted.
Image: Phando Jikelo / RSA Parliament
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has indicated that it will turn to court to interdict the appointment of any new National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), as it deems the process flawed.
The DA is against Advocate Menzi Simelane being interviewed as a possible candidate to replace the head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Shamila Batohi.
The panel, headed by Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, started with its interviews on Wednesday.
Six hopefuls are scheduled to be interviewed over two days. Simelane is last on the list, and he is due to be interviewed only on Thursday afternoon.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach said the party warned that the ongoing process to appoint a new NDPP has gone badly off the rails.
“The panel set up to advise the president has chosen to interview Adv Menzi Simelane, a man already found unfit for this very office by South Africa’s highest court. It is impossible to overlook that history.”
The inclusion of Menzi Simelane on the shortlist to be interviewed for the post of National Director of Public Prosecutions has ignited controversy because of prior adverse findings about his honesty and integrity.
Image: File
She said the Supreme Court of Appeal, and later the Constitutional Court, struck down Simelane’s 2010 appointment on grounds that went to the heart of his honesty and integrity. Those judgments have never been overturned or softened.
“To make matters worse, he was found guilty of professional misconduct in 2017 for misleading the Ginwala Inquiry, and he now faces a striking-off application from the Johannesburg Bar Council. It is hard to imagine a more serious cloud over a candidate.”
Breytenbach added: “Yet the panel insists it is only interviewing people who meet the minimum requirements. Under the National Prosecuting Authority Act, ‘fit and proper’ is a minimum legal requirement. The claim by the panel collapses the moment Simelane’s name appears on the shortlist.”
She said that if he is treated as qualifying, then the process is irrational. And if the process is irrational, it is unlawful.
“On December 7, our attorneys wrote to the panel seeking reasons for Simelane’s inclusion: how did they conclude that he meets the minimum legal threshold, and did they consider the Bar Council application? The panel did not so much as acknowledge the letter.”
She explained that on December 9, the DA informed the president that this silence leaves the party no choice.
“Any recommendation that comes from this process carries the same legal defect. If the president appoints anyone from the panel’s recommendations, the DA will approach the court to interdict that appointment. We deserve a leader with credibility, independence, and courage. Not a re-run of a constitutional disaster,” Breytenbach said.
zelda.venter@inl.co.za