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Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A South African court on Friday overturned President Jacob Zuma’s appointment of the head of public prosecutions, dealing a sharp reprimand to the scandal-tainted leader.
Shaun Abrahams, who was in 2015 named by Zuma as director of public prosecutions, has often been criticised for allegedly protecting Zuma and his associates.
The High Court in Pretoria ordered Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to name Abrahams’ successor within 60 days, stating that Zuma was “conflicted” over the issue as he faces possible reinstatement of criminal charges.
“The appointment of Shaun Abrahams as National Director of Public Prosecutions is declared null and void,” said judge Dunstan Mlambo.
The court ruling comes as Abrahams was expected to announce his decision on whether to proceed with Zuma’s prosecution on fraud and corruption charges.
A court recently ruled against prosecutors’ previous decision to drop the charges in 2009, months before Zuma became president.
Zuma’s criminal charges relate to multi-billion dollar arms procurement deals by the government in the late 1990s, where he is accused of having received bribes.
Civil society groups had launched a court application questioning Abrahams’ fitness to hold office after he brought criminal charges against former finance minister Pravin Gordhan.
Gordhan and his former colleagues were accused of running a “rogue” tax unit that spied on top government officials while he was in charge of the revenue service.
The allegations were later found to be false.
A statement from Zuma’s office said he would appeal the decision to rescind Abrahams’ appointment.
One thing the judges did not consider is that Ramaphosa serves at the invite of the president. Should Zuma fire him today and does not replace him for a year or keep changing DP every two months, the order will have no effect and could be frustrated, leaving no one able to appoint the NDPP. I think they should have been liberal by stating that JSC should do the interviews and recommend for the president to be forced to appoint the recommended NDPP as this is a very important office to be left in the hands of politicians. That is how judges are appointed and no reason why this could not be extended to the office of the NDPP.