Mbeki, Cabinet seek legal advice

2008-09-18 13:04

Pretoria - President Thabo Mbeki and his Cabinet will seek legal advice on Judge Chris Nicholson's comments about political interference in ANC president Jacob Zuma's prosecution.

"Cabinet respects the judiciary and its decisions," government spokesperson Themba Maseko told a media briefing on Thursday following Cabinet's regular meeting on Wednesday.

"However, Cabinet does not accept the suggestion that either the President or the executive interfered with the prosecuting decisions of the National Prosecuting Authority regarding the prosecution of any person or persons," he said.

Political oversight of NPA

Maseko said the Constitution and NPA Act gave the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development political oversight over the NPA.

However, the minister did not participate in decisions about individual prosecutions.

Therefore, the suggestion that the interactions between the minister and the National Director of Public Prosecutions constituted interference was not correct.

The "untested inference" that there was political interference with the prosecuting decisions of the NPA in this, or any other case, was untrue, unfounded, and "does not hold water".

"Cabinet has decided to seek legal advice on the inferences made by Judge Nicholson that President Thabo Mbeki and the executive interfered with the NPA regarding the decision to prosecute Mr Jacob Zuma," Maseko said.

Comments removed from judgment

This did not mean Cabinet rejected Nicholson's judgment.

The legal opinion sought would be only on how the inference made could be corrected. Essentially, Cabinet wanted the comments removed from the judgment, which was a public record.

"The judge may not have had all the facts in front of him when he reached that conclusion," he said.

Cabinet wanted to present the facts as they were.

- SAPA