Pikoli attacks Mbeki over courts

Suspended national director of public prosecutions Vusi Pikoli has criticised President Thabo Mbeki and his Cabinet for failing to defend the courts against politically motivated attacks.

In a rare interview in Pretoria this week, Pikoli:

• Warned that police, prosecutors, magistrates, judges and constitutionally protected institutions must be given more respect if South Africa is to avoid descending into ‘anarchy and lawlessness”.
• Pointed out that the cyber-crimes unit of the Scorpions had been honoured by the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) in Singapore last week for ‘unique and outstanding work”. ‘Our cyber-crimes team is recognised overseas as one of the world’s best — meanwhile, they are being trashed in Parliament. It’s crazy.”
• Rejected any proposed ‘political solution” to the case against ANC president Jacob Zuma. ‘What political solution?” he asked ‘There is no such thing as a political solution to a criminal issue. There can be only a legal solution. If Mr Zuma thinks he can’t get a fair trial he must say why not in an open court — and the court must decide.”
• Insisted that judges would not be influenced by the pressure exerted on them following the controversy over Cape Judge President John Hlophe’s alleged attempts to lobby the Constitutional Court in Zuma’s favour, or by ANC attacks on their alleged ‘counter-revolutionary” agenda.

‘I completely trust our judges,” Pikoli said. ‘They will not be swayed.”

On Mbeki’s role Pikoli said the president and Cabinet ministers had a constitutional obligation ‘to protect the courts from outside influence and their being hindered or obstructed in any way from carrying out their functions”.

Pikoli, who also received a special achievements award from the IAP for prosecutorial independence, strongly defended the National Prosecuting Authority. He said the country’s chief prosecutor should be chosen through a transparent process that builds public confidence in the independence of the justice system.

‘There should be an open process, with nominations and public interviews. Ultimately a name or two names could be given to the president for him to make a final choice. The point is, it must have credibility with the public.

‘The NPA is a crucial and integral component in the functioning of the courts,” he said. ‘Of course it can be criticised — but it must not be scandalised.

‘Prosecutors are gatekeepers of the criminal justice system and judges and magistrates exercise their judicial independence. They exercise much power — hence the need for transparency in their appointment and accountability only to Parliament. They themselves must be men and women of integrity, whose conduct should always be beyond reproach.”

Pikoli is widely thought to have been axed for persisting with the arrest and prosecution of police commissioner Jackie Selebi, in the teeth of objections by Mbeki and Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Brigitte Mabandla.

Mbeki appointed him to the post in 2005, in consultation with the then secretary general of the ANC, Kgalema Motlanthe, and Mabandla.

Pikoli said he assumed his appointment was based on the experience he built up as director general in the justice department and his interaction with the NPA.

Barely a month later the presidency announced an inquiry into the Scorpions by Judge Sisi Khampepe.

‘I’d not even managed to walk around the building when the announcement was made,” he said, joking.

His predecessor, Bulelani Ngcuka, had been accused by Jacob Zuma’s supporters of using his authority for political ends. A few months into the job Pikoli faced the same accusation when Zuma’s ‘financial adviser”, Schabir Shaik, was convicted of corruption and Zuma was charged with corruption shortly afterwards.

‘I informed President Mbeki and Jacob Zuma of the charges on the same day. I met the president and then I drove to Luthuli House and met Zuma.

‘It was extremely difficult for me as a member of the liberation movement who had been in exile,” he said.

Pikoli soon found himself smeared by ‘hoax emails” as part of an alleged political plot to deny Zuma the presidency. But it was not the Zuma prosecution that led to his suspension and the resulting Ginwala commission of inquiry into his fitness for public office.

That was triggered by his refusal to allow executive interference by Mbeki and Mabandla in the Selebi investigation. Pikoli believed Selebi failed to answer crucial questions about his association with underworld figures.

‘I said no. We have a situation where the suspect is being allowed to determine the pace and scope of the investigation. The point is that prose-cutors must be able to do their work independently,” he said.

‘Surely you can’t have a situation where the police are withholding crucial evidence from us while one of them is under investigation. I complained about this. I wrote letters. I asked for help and assistance and didn’t receive any.”

Pikoli called on civil society leaders to speak out in defence of democratic institutions, which, he suggested, were being threatened by political expediency.

‘We have to have independent, credible institutions,” he insisted.

Lawson Naidoo, spokesperson for the Ginwala inquiry, said Ginwala was still preparing the report on her inquiry. He could not say when it would be completed.