LETTER: Blame government for failed prosecution

by | May 3, 2023 | General, Glenister Case | 0 comments

It did not understand the binding rulings of the Constitutional Court in the Glenister litigation

Your report covering the disastrous Nulane prosecution refers (“NPA weighs options after five accused in Nulane trial discharged”, April 21). This comes hard on the heels of the failed attempt to extradite the Guptas and the Thabo Bester escapade.

The blame in the Nulane prosecution lies squarely on the failure of government to properly understand and implement the binding rulings of the Constitutional Court in the Glenister litigation. Countering serious corruption requires a totally dedicated and specialised entity with enough well-trained experts housed in an operationally and structurally independent way.

The new entity must be fully resourced and enjoy secure tenure of office. The post-Scorpions experiment of separating investigative and prosecutorial functions has failed, as the Zondo report demonstrates, and must end now.

Making the clueless Investigating Directorate “permanent”, as the cabinet wishes, is bound to fail too because a permanent directorate in the National Prosecuting Authority is as vulnerable to closure as the Scorpions were.

A new stand-alone body that is neither Hawks nor Investigating Directorate is required urgently. The draft remedial legislation exists; the political will to implement it is lacking in the ANC. But not in the DA, IFP and other opposition formations.

All voters need to insist that the party or person for whom they vote next year is committed to the establishment of a new Chapter Nine body that has a mandate to prevent, combat, investigate, and prosecute serious corruption.

All politicians need to support this “radical enforcement transformation” on pain of political demise. The remedial steps and draft laws suggested by Accountability Now are available for critical review on its website.

If the catastrophic trial in the Nulane matter and the fiasco in the Gupta extradition application do not prompt a radical rethink in the cabinet, its accountability and responsiveness will be called into question by the electorate.

Paul Hoffman, SC
Accountability Now

Share it to your own platforms

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download our handbook: