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Pikoli hearings set to start
07/05/2008 11:30 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Lawyers for suspended National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli started filing into the Johannesburg Council of Chambers on Wednesday morning ahead of public hearings on his fitness to hold office.
The hearings are expected to start at 10:00 with the head of the commission of inquiry, Frene Ginwala, making an opening statement, followed by the government presenting its case.
Technicians conducted last-minute sound checks in the vast auditorium and boxes of lever arch files were being wheeled into the room.
Representatives for Pikoli and the government are to be seated opposite each other. Pikoli's lawyers include Advocate Wim Trengove and attorneys Michael Hart and Aslam Moosajee.
An advocate representing e.tv is expected to ask that the hearings be open to the public, if Ginwala announces an in-camera section.
President Thabo Mbeki suspended Pikoli as the head of the National Prosecuting Authority on September 24 last year and Ginwala, the former speaker of the National Assembly, was appointed on September 28 to head the inquiry.
At the time, Mbeki cited a breakdown in the relationship between Pikoli and Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla as the reason for the NPA head's suspension.
The government's list of witnesses includes deputy justice minister Johnny de Lange, director general in the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Manala Manzini, and Frank Chikane, who is the director general in the presidency.
Acting police chief Timothy Williams and deputy director general in the NIA, Arthur Fraser, will also testify for the state, the commission of inquiry said in a press statement on Tuesday.
Pikoli's lawyers said they may call the director of public prosecutions, Charin de Beer, Gerrie Nel, and JP Pretorius, the deputy director of public prosecutions.
The commission's terms of reference cover two broad areas - Pikoli's fitness to hold office and the working relationship between Pikoli and Mabandla.
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