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Glynnis Breytenbach has given the nod to three candidates for the “dream job” of national director of public prosecutions.
Breytenbach, a former prosecutor for the National Prosecuting Authority and a member of Parliament for the Democratic Alliance, announced her withdrawal from the closely watched race last night.
The hunt for a new top prosecutor has been on since August, when the Constitutional Court declared Shaun Abraham’s appointment as national director of public prosecutions by former president Jacob Zuma invalid.
Breytenbach addressed the media in Parliament today alongside DA leader Mmusi Maimane.
“I am not particularly disappointed, it is a dream job there is no question about that. I am very happy with the job I have. I enjoy the job that I have. I try and do it well, so no I am not disappointed,” the party’s shadow minister of justice said of her withdrawal from the race.
Breytenbach’s top three candidates are Shamila Batohi, Rodney de Klerk and Saaks Mapoma.
Breytenbach revealed that she had been nominated for the top job by the Pretoria bar.
“I think Shamila Batohi could do a very good job. She has a lot of experience, she has been a prosecutor for many years, she has got some experience now in the International Criminal Court. I think she could do a great job; she is a very good administrator,” she said referring to KwaZulu-Natal’s former director of public prosecutions.
“I think Rodney de Kock has run a very good ship in the Western Cape and I think with proper support he could do the job. And then there is the outsider, Saaks Mapoma, who I have known since he was a young man, also a very good prosecutor. He left to go to Transnet for a while. [He’s a] solid human being. I think he could do a good job.”
Maimane said that were the DA to emerge as government, Breytenbach would be the ideal candidate for justice minister. Maimane also re-iterated the call that the process to appoint the national director of public prosecutions should be brought to Parliament as is done with chapter 9 institutions.
“We have also proposed in the past that the appointment procedures for the national director of public prosecutions be reformed to limit the power of the president to appoint whomever he or she likes, and to involve Parliament more directly in the process. Specifically, we have proposed a constitutional amendment that will check the president’s power to appoint an national director of public prosecutions of his choice by requiring that he decides on an appointment only upon the recommendation of Parliament,” Maimane said.
“The process currently under way to appoint a new national director of public prosecutions is a step in the right direction, and we support the interview process being public and open to the media.”
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