Simelane appointment 'unlawful'

2009-11-26 14:34

Cape Town - Menzi Simelane's appointment as national director of prosecutions shows an "utter disregard for the Constitution and the law", according to constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos.

"This is the darkest and most scandalous day yet in the short life of President [Jacob] Zuma’s tenure," he said on Thursday in his blog Constitutionally Speaking.

De Vos, who holds a chair in constitutional governance at the University of Cape Town, said the National Prosecuting Authority Act laid down that the director had to be a "fit and proper person, with due regard to his or her experience, conscientiousness and integrity".

"President Zuma acted unlawfully because Simelane clearly does not meet the requirements for the job," he said.

He said the Ginwala inquiry had found that in his former post of justice director general, Simelane drafted a letter for his minister on the case for former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi that was in Ginwala's words "tantamount to executive interference with the prosecutorial independence of the NPA".

De Vos said Simelane’s view of the NPA was that it should take instructions from the minister of justice and the president, even in making decisions on individual cases.

Simelane's appointment was announced by the presidency on Wednesday, and drew a howl of protest from opposition parties.

He is to take over from acting director Mokotedi Mpshe, who will return to his position of deputy national director.

- SAPA