Mail & Guardian Reporter
Provincial attorneys general plotting any maverick action had better hurry up: Justice Minister Dullah Omar says his department is preparing legislation to create a national director of public prosecutions. Whoever occupies the post will be able to bring oddball attorneys general — to be rechristened directors of public prosecutions — to heel.
Most state attorneys are keen on the idea of having someone at the helm, the debate having been fuelled recently when KwaZulu-Natal Attorney General Tim McNally took the controversial decision to prosecute former Vlakplaas leader Dirk Coetzee.
Omar scoffs at fears that the appointment will undermine the independence of attorneys general. He says it will of course be a political appointment, like all appointments by the government. But he denies this will mean political interference with the post.
The minister points out that the Constitution includes a clause providing for a national director of public prosecutions. The clause has been labelled unconstitutional by some attorneys general who believe the appointment will undermine their independence.
The government is awaiting the outcome of the Constitutional Court’s certification of the Constitution. If it is cleared, and does not have to go back to the Constitutional Assembly, it will not be long before the legislation is tabled.