Simelane opposition mounts

2009-11-27 19:15

Johannesburg - Public opposition mounted on Friday against the appointment of Menzi Simelane as prosecutions boss, with President Jacob Zuma facing several court actions to have the decision reversed.

A senior advocate announced he would lay a complaint against Simelane with the Pretoria Bar Council on Tuesday, while the Democratic Alliance and a non-governmental organisation are seeking legal advice to fight the appointment.

"I will table a memorandum before the Pretoria Bar Council on Tuesday and they will have to take it from there," Pat Ellis, SC, told the Mail & Guardian newspaper.

"The Bar Council will then decide whether to investigate Simelane and, if so, what form the investigation will take."

Ginwala Commission

The gist of his complaint will centre around a finding by former National Assembly speaker Frene Ginwala last year during an inquiry into whether former chief prosecutor Vusi Pikoli was fit to hold office.

Simelane testified at that hearing and Ginwala found he had most likely interfered with the independence of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). This was during its fraud and corruption investigation against former police commissioner Jackie Selebi.

DA leader Helen Zille, wrote in the party newsletter on Friday, that she would "fight this appointment".

"The DA is currently seeking legal advice to ascertain whether Zuma's decision is reviewable by a court, and whether such a legal challenge would have a reasonable prospect of success."

The Congress of the People (Cope) urged Public Protector Thulisile Madonsela in a letter on Friday to "intervene".

A watchdog non-government organisation called on the Public Service Commission to make public a complaint that was laid against Simelane in 2008.

The matter was referred to the PSC in 2008 by then justice minister Enver Surty, who described it as "very serious".

Radebe dropped the matter

Though the PSC reportedly recommended a disciplinary hearing against Simelane, then director general of the justice department, Surty's successor Jeff Radebe decided to drop the matter.

Head of the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) Jay Kruuse said if the PSC was unwilling to release its findings to the public, the PSAM would use the Promotion of Access to Information Act to get them.

He said Radebe had not provided a thorough explanation of his interactions with the PSC on this issue.

Kruuse said Simelane's appointment this week as national director for public prosecutions was "ill conceived, prejudicial to the integrity of the National Prosecuting Authority and the rule of law".

He said Zuma had made the decision despite damning findings against Simelane by the Ginwala Commission of Inquiry.

Zuma's spokesperson, Vusi Mona, said Ginwala's findings were not relevant to Simelane's appointment.

"Frene Ginwala is not the minister of justice," Mona said.

Irregular behaviour

Ginwala also found that in his testimony before the inquiry, Simelane gave contradictory and inaccurate information with no basis in law and that his behaviour as justice department director general towards the NPA was irregular.

Constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos has called Simelane's appointment the "darkest and most scandalous day yet in the short life of President Zuma's tenure".

Simelane was recently appointed deputy to acting NPA chief Mokotedi Mpshe.

The Mail & Guardian reported that Simelane called a meeting on October 12, two days after taking office, during which he addressed the members of the National Prosecuting Service. He apparently told staffers his transfer was "unexpected".

"He said he was a political animal and that it's common knowledge he is a member of the party [the African National Congress] that put the president into power," a staffer told the weekly paper.

"He said he was deployed by the party to this position and that part of his task was to implement the ANC's vision for the NPA."

About a week later, Simelane reportedly met prosecutors at the NPA's Johannesburg office and told them political interference would not be tolerated.

"But he said we should be sensitive when dealing with political cases because the NPA is also part of government," a prosecutor who attended the meeting said.

- SAPA