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The verdict – although indecisive – is in from the adjudicating panel led by Energy Minister Jeff Radebe tasked to interview candidates for the vacant position of national director of public prosecutions.
Instead of recommending three names as instructed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who appointed the panel, the president has been given a shortlist of five candidates whom the panel believes would be the most suitable to fill the post of National Prosecution Authority boss.
The recommended names are those of advocates Shamila Batohi, Siyabulele Mapoma, Simphiwe Mlotshwa, Rodney de Kock and Andrea Johnson. They were put forward from the original list of 11 candidates interviewed over a gruelling three-day interviewing process.
The panel probed the candidates, who accepted their nomination to lead the prosecuting authority, on how they would reform the NPA.
The recommended five candidates were the ones found most competent on issues of personal integrity, dealing with political interference, professional experience, and improving public trust within the tainted institution.
Radebe communicated his decision to the president on Saturday, and explained the lengthy process that went into shortlisting not only the five candidates who have been nominated but the overall 11 candidates who made it into the interviewing process.
He said his panel had painstakingly evaluated 45 names and had eventually settled on 12 who attended the final interviewing process.
“We are looking for a capable person who will be able to ensure that he or she can fearlessly defend the Constitution so that when they take decisions to prosecute it is without favour and without prejudice.
“We will come up with a candidate that many South Africans will be proud of,” he said.
Ramaphosa was given 90 days from August 13 to appoint a new director of public prosecutions following the Constitutional Court’s declaration that the appointment of Shaun Abrahams as NPA head was unconstitutional, leading to his exit.
Despite the transparent process involved in this crucial appointment, those following the proceedings were left questioning the independence of the adjudication panel on more than one occasion.
KwaZulu-Natal top prosecutor, advocate Dinah Moipone Noko, was accused of withdrawing charges against two ANC KwaZulu-Natal provincial leaders – Economic Development MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu and speaker Peggy Nkonyeni. In 2013 Noko was also accused of withdrawing charges of intimidation and harassment laid against former president Jacob Zuma’s fifth wife Tobeka Madiba.
It was also reported that Noko was appointed to the provincial top prosecutor position by Zuma in 2013 at the recommendation of then justice minister Radebe, who chaired the interviewing panel.
Concerns were also raised around whether advocate Jaap Cilliers SC should have recused himself from the interview of prosecutor Andrea Johnson.
Cilliers represented former police commissioner Jackie Selebi in his corruption trial and Johnson was part of the State team, along with Gerrie Nel, who successfully prosecuted him in 2010.
However, even with the issues surrounding the interviewing process, many may have taken comfort in the fact that the process was at least transparent.
Read: Editorial: Another big step for SA in NDPP interviews
Under former president Jacob Zuma, there were three appointments to the position – Menzi Simelane (2009), Mxolisi Nxasana (2013) and Shaun Abrahams (2015) – and were all done under the radar with the president only communicating his decision via media statements.
Ramaphosa is expected to appoint the new prosecuting head shortly.
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