Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Brigitte Mabandla has until January 15 to file her submissions with the Ginwala commission of inquiry into National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli.
According to the rules and timeframes for the inquiry, released by commission chairperson Frene Ginwala on Thursday, Pikoli has until January 31 to do the same.
Third parties — asked by Ginwala to make submissions or those with special interests or knowledge — also have until January 31 to make representations or submissions.
Mabandla will then have until February 12 to file her reply submissions, with public hearings, if any, scheduled for February 25 to March 7.
The rules and timeframes do not include the duration of the inquiry or set a date for Ginwala to present her report to President Thabo Mbeki. Commission deputy secretary Lawson Naidoo said this would depend, among other things, on the nature of the submissions received.
Mbeki suspended Pikoli on September 24, and the former speaker of the National Assembly was subsequently appointed on September 28 to head the inquiry.
The commission’s terms of reference cover two broad areas: Pikoli’s fitness to hold office and the breakdown of the working relationship between him and Mabandla.
The terms of reference include questions on whether, when deciding to prosecute offenders, Pikoli sufficient regarded ”the nature and extent of the threats posed by organised crime to the national security of the republic”.
The terms also question whether, when he granted immunity from prosecution or entered into plea-bargain arrangements with people involved with organised crime — ”he took due regard to the public interests and the national security interest”.
Two senior lawyers — senior counsel Ishmael Semenya, and Dines Gihwala, the Cape Town attorney who is also co-curator of Fidentia — have been appointed to advise Ginwala ”as and when necessary”. They have not been brought in for any specific issues.
The government has already made a submission to the inquiry, which is operating from premises in Waterkloof, Pretoria.
In a statement on Thursday, the commission said the rules and timeframes had been finalised after consultations were held with Mabandla and Pikoli and taking their comments into account.
In terms of the rules, Ginwala will decide whether to call for a hearing after receiving the submissions and whether it will be held in public or private.
Any ”competent and compellable person” can be called, with Ginwala’s approval, to give evidence. — Sapa