President Thabo Mbeki has officially appointed Mabedle Lawrence Mushwana as the country's second public prosecutor for a single seven-year term, Frene Ginwala, the Speaker of the National Assembly, announced today.

Mushwana, an African National Congress (ANC) MP, replaces Selby Baqwa whose term ends this month.

The National Assembly last week voted 278 to 32 in favour of the appointment. Mushwana, who is currently the deputy chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), received the support of the majority of parties except the Democratic Party, the Federal Alliance, and the Freedom Front, while the African Christian Democratic Party and the deputy leader of the Pan Africanist Congress Motsoko Pheko abstained.

The DA is to table legislation preventing the appointment of a public protector from the ranks of sitting parliamentarians.

Mushwana holds LLB and Bachelor of Law degrees from the University of Zululand and Unisa, and was a magistrate from 1977 to 1985. He has already said he intended to resign from the ANC once his appointment was official.

With acknowledgements to Lynn Bolin and Business Day.