Suspended prosecutions boss Vusi Pikoli said on Monday he didn’t intend turning the country into a ”wasteland” due to a backlash caused by arresting police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi.
He told the Ginwala inquiry into his fitness to hold office that he believed one week was enough time for President Thabo Mbeki to deal with any security concerns and was never told after the initial meeting that Mbeki needed more time.
”He could have said on the 22nd or the 23rd of September, ‘Look Vusi, I have really tried to create this but it looks like the week you have given me is unreasonable’. I would have considered it,” Pikoli said.
Pikoli was suspended on September 23 2007, a week after telling Mbeki that he had obtained search and arrest warrants against Selebi. Selebi has made initial court appearances and is to go on trial next April to face corruption and defeating the ends of justice charges.
Pikoli said that the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) work would not have been compromised if Selebi had been arrested just as ”Joe Soap”, without his police title and as the head of Interpol.
”But we needed to do what we needed to do,” he said, adding that everyone was equal before the law.
He said that in the week before his suspension, the issue was not about prosecutorial independence, because the decision had already been taken to prosecute Selebi.
It was more about not having a crisis or an area of embarrassment for the country.
Mbeki had already hinted at the possibility of angry policemen.
”As the national director [of public prosecutions], obviously I wouldn’t want this country reduced to a wasteland,” he said.
He had taken an oath of office and had responsibilities under the Constitution.
”It would be like saying the national commissioner can’t be arrested because police officers will cause mayhem. We must close down as the NPA if we are going to be helpless in the face of these threats.”
He was responding to questions from inquiry assessor Ismail Semenya as to whether one week’s or two weeks’ notice given to Mbeki would have made any difference to the outcome of the case.
Pikoli said that once a warrant was secured, it was important to execute it quickly, to retain the element of surprise. He said that he had the warrants with him all the time and had ordered the Directorate of Special Operations not to move unless he gave the go-ahead.
Mbeki called for a national security cluster meeting after Pikoli had informed him of Selebi’s possible arrest, but at no time in the following week was Pikoli told that the week wasn’t enough time for Mbeki to address his concerns.
Instead, on Sunday September 23, a week later, Pikoli was suspended.
Pikoli thought Mbeki was conceding to the one-week time frame by asking Director General in the Presidency Frank Chikane to call for the national security cluster meeting.
The inquiry has heard an accusation that Pikoli was lying over the ”time frame” discussion. He denied this again on Monday. — Sapa