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The National Prosecutions Authority’s upper echelon is caught up in factionalism and has also displayed signs of being susceptible to political influence.
There has therefore arisen a need to deal away with it and breathe new life into the NPA’s leadership.
These were the submissions made by senior state prosecutor, Advocate Andrea Johnson, at the Union Buildings in Pretoria during her interview for the position of prosecutions boss.
“If I was afforded the opportunity to be the national director of public prosecutions my first task would be to overhaul the NPA’s management. The upper echelons of the NPA are plagued by factionalism and infighting,” said Johnson.
When the all-male interviewing panel constituted by President Cyril Ramaphosa and led by Minister Jeff Radebe quizzed her, Johnson added that the state of NPA management was dire and needed change.
“You could appoint the Pope as the national director of public prosecutions but, given the current state at the NPA, the structures would chew him up and spit him out,” said Johnson.
Her sentiments were in stark contrast to those expressed by acting NPA head Silas Ramaite, who painted a rosy picture of the state of affairs at the NPA when he was interviewed on Wednesday.
Ramaite said there was no factionalism but only a “difference in culture”.
He said infighting and instability were dealt away with when Mxolisi Nxasana and then Shaun Abrahams were at the helm.
Nxasana stood down as NPA head in May 2015 after reaching a settlement (which he was subsequently told to pay back) with President Jacob Zuma, who appointed him in August 2013.
The embattled national director of public prosecutions had faced an inquiry into his fitness to hold office and another investigation of trying to defeat the ends of justice.
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 – also by Zuma – invalid
In contrast to Ramaite, Johnson said she could not deny that the NPA was in crisis.
She said factionalism was the major concern and highlighted the numerous times the organisation had made the headlines for “the wrong reasons”.
Referring to the NPA making headlines, Johnson said “irrespective of what was being said (in the media) I reminded my juniors that whatever we were doing in court should not be compromised by the bad publicity”.
She explained that reassuring the personnel under her leadership was part of her core function.
Johnson addressed the prosecution of former police commissioner Jackie Selebi – of which she was a part – and indicated that undue political influence was another matter of serious concerns in the NPA.
She said the Ginwala Commission of Inquiry, which was set up to investigate suspended national director of public prosecutions Vusi Pikoli, had detailed how then president (Thabo Mbeki) had interfered in the prosecutorial process.
She assured the interviewing panel that, should she be appointed by the president, she would turn around the organisation and regain its independence regardless of who was in power.
The panel is mandated with shortlisting candidates, interviewing them and recommending three names to Ramaphosa.
There are 11 candidates vying for the top NPA post.
Five candidates – Advocates Siyabulela Mapoma, Matodzi Makhari, Matric Luphondo and Andrew Chauke and acting NPA head Dr Silas Ramaite – were interviewed on Wednesday.
