The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) fears party politics was behind the suspension of National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Vusi Pikoli, it said on Thursday.
The way in which he was suspended raised ”serious suspicion” that the government may have intervened for ”narrow political reasons”, said spokesperson Patrick Craven.
It also called into question whether state institutions were being manipulated and used to settle factional battles.
Cosatu shared the Johannesburg Bar Council’s concern that available information on the suspension seemed to point to interference with constitutional safeguards, he said.
In a statement on Thursday, the Johannesburg Bar Council said the government had to respond to the continuing controversy and speculation about the Pikoli suspension.
It had to give the assurance that there was not and would not be political or other interference in the judicial system.
”At present, and with the information in the public domain, it seems to us that there may have been interference with these constitutional safeguards. If so, it is a crisis,” the council said.
Cosatu said it remained unclear whether Pikoli’s issuing of a warrant against police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi was the real reason for his suspension.
”In an interview with Radio 702 on October 2, acting NDPP Mokotedi Mpshe said that when President [Thabo] Mbeki gave him the job, he instructed him to look into ‘this matter around Jackie Selebi’.
”Then a week later he told e.tv that ‘[The president] never mentioned the Selebi name to me.’ One of these statements has to be a lie.”
The Bar Council was right in its disquiet over Mpshe, who having denied knowing about the warrant, now said he had it cancelled after hours by a magistrate other than the one who issued it, said Craven
Cosatu unequivocally supported the judiciary’s constitutional independence and the need for the National Prosecuting Authority to operate impartially where it had sufficient evidence.
Cosatu also supported the Bar Council’s call on the government to demonstrate, clearly and unambiguously, that the independence of the judiciary was respected and protected and that the prosecuting authority could exercise its functions ”without fear, favour or prejudice”.
”If this is not done urgently, it will be difficult to counter accusations that there has indeed been interference in the judicial and prosecutorial independence,” the council said.
”Apart from its obvious implication for the rule of law, such interference will also be a betrayal of the ideals of those who have fought for our democracy.”
Cosatu would continue to press the government for a full explanation of Pikoli’s dismissal and an assurance that the fears of unconstitutional interference in the rule of law are unfounded, said Craven
”We remain concerned that the commission of inquiry headed by Comrade Frene Ginwala has such narrow terms of reference that this will prevent it from probing the real issues around the Selebi warrant, which have been raised by many, including now the Bar Council,” he said.
”The biggest question is how do we find out the truth on whether or not it is true that the president suspended Pikoli because he obtained the warrant?
”Ginwala will not probe that question, yet the nation is crying out for an independent and credible process to find the truth.”
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille admitted on Thursday that the party could not force the recusal of Ginwala as Mbeki acted in terms of executive and not administrative power in appointing her.
However, Zille reiterated the DA’s belief that it was inappropriate for the former National Assembly speaker to probe Pikoli’s fitness to hold office, and that a respected judge should have been chosen instead. — Sapa