Pikoli 'won't go public, yet'
26/04/2008 07:50  - (SA)  

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Johannesburg - Suspended National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss, Vusi Pikoli, will not "at this stage" make public his submissions to the Ginwala Commission.

"Mr Pikoli remains committed to doing so at the appropriate time," said Deneys Reitz, attorneys acting on behalf of Pikoli, in a statement on Friday.

This was "as a courtesy to government and to allow it to make appropriate representations to Dr Ginwala about in-camera hearings".

Government's attorneys contend that making the Pikoli's submission public would jeopardise a ruling on in-camera hearings. It had indicated its intention to apply for certain parts of its submission to be held in-camera.

The commission had requested both parties to identify those parts of their submissions which were classified and to reasons why it should be so.

The Independent Newspaper group had requested the commission to make all submissions available to them. Their request was denied.

The commission said parties were to "decide on their own" whether to open their submissions to public scrutiny or not.

President Thabo Mbeki suspended Pikoli on September 24 and the former speaker of the National Assembly, Frene Ginwala, was subsequently appointed on September 28 to head the inquiry.

At the time, Mbeki cited a breakdown of the relationship between Pikoli and Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla as the reason for the NPA head's suspension.

The commission's terms of reference cover two broad areas, namely Pikoli's fitness to hold office and the working relationship between Pikoli and Mabandla.

The terms of reference include questions on whether, when deciding to prosecute offenders, Pikoli took sufficient regard "to the nature and extent of the threats posed by organised crime to the national security of the Republic".

The terms also question whether, when he granted immunity from prosecution or entered into plea bargain arrangements with people involved with organised crime, "he took due regard to the public interests and the national security interest".

At the end of the inquiry, Ginwala will submit a report to Mbeki who would decide how and when he would make the findings public.

 

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