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Acting National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Dr Silas Ramaite said all was well at the organisation and there was no need to be concerned.
Ramaite, who was being interviewed for the job of National Director of Public Prosecutions at the Union Buildings on Wednesday, said the issue was only “the different cultures” that existed within the prosecuting authority.
“The last instability came with the exit of Mr (Mxolisi) Nxasana … the appointment of Mr (Shaun) Abrahams also came with instability,” he said.
Ramaite – who was lambasted for failing to take the panel inside the ongoings of the prosecuting authority and failing to give “practical answers” – said there was no crisis at the NPA “as we speak now”.
He said the last crisis the NPA experienced was after the removal of Abrahams which led to a lot of work stopping.
“There has been a lot of work done now… there shouldn’t be any concern,” he concluded.
However, the panel appeared unconvinced by his elusive answers and posed further questions which he managed to evade with a generic answer.
One of the panellists, Advocate L Manye, took offence and reminded Ramaite that he had not answered some of the questions posed to him and had only told them about “the structural and cultural problems” that existed at the NPA.
Manye’s sentiments were supported by many panellists including the panel chairperson and Energy Minister Jeff Radebe who said Ramaite was being “philosophical” with his answers.
“You tell us about the House of Lords when we are here in South Africa. We want to know what is happening at NPA,” he lambasted Ramaite.
Ramaite refused to cave in to the pressure to answer direct questions and said he prided himself on the fact that there were no negative court judgments during his period as the acting head.
He said he always unified the team behind himself and his vision.
It is Ramaite’s third time treading the boards in the top job: the first was after Bulelani Ngcuka left office in 2004, and the second when Mxolisi Nxasana departed in 2015 after accepting a R17 million golden handshake from former president Jacob Zuma, which Nxasana now has to pay back.
“He is an academic and has the fewest scandals among the deputy NDPPs,” a senior prosecutor cited as one reason Ramaite gets the acting job so often.
Ramaite is among 11 candidates vying for the top NPA post.
Four other candidates – Advocates Siyabulela Mapoma, Matodzi Makhari, Matric Luphondo and Andrew Chauke – were also interviewed on Wednesday.
The interviews continue on Thursday.
