|
Cabinet to Weigh Pikoli Report Findings |
| Publication |
Business Day |
| Date | 2008-12-08 |
|
Reporter |
Hajra Omarjee |
|
Web Link |
PresidenT Kgalema Motlanthe will convene a special cabinet sitting
this morning to discuss the
findings of the Ginwala inquiry into suspended National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)
boss Vusi Pikoli’s fitness to hold office before making the report public.
Sources said yesterday that after a year-long investigation, Ginwala found
Pikoli was fit to hold office but rejected his assertion that
former president Thabo Mbeki suspended him to
derail the investigation *1 of police chief Jackie Selebi.
The findings, which reportedly absolve Mbeki, will not go down well with some in
the African National Congress (ANC), who were
hoping he would be found guilty of political
interference.
Sources said Motlanthe had “accepted” the
findings, but still had to discuss it with the cabinet
because of the sensitive
nature of the findings.
Motlanthe has also come under pressure from the ANC’s national working committee
over the cabinet’s continued support for Mbeki’s legal action to try to overturn
the Nicholson judgment. His handling of the Pikoli issue will be his first major
public challenge since taking office in October.
On the eve of the report’s release, Motlanthe sought the counsel of legal and
political advisers, sources said.
He was evidently advised to reinstate
Pikoli, but put “processes and measures” in place to curb
the powers of the national director of public prosecutions, including stricter
guidelines on plea bargaining.
Pikoli, rumoured at one time to be heading for the private sector, is on record
as having supported the prosecution of ANC
leader Jacob Zuma, making the ANC leaders uncomfortable about reinstating him.
Motlanthe, however, is not expected to make a ruling on the issue of political
oversight over the NPA.
The Supreme Court of Appeal has not yet ruled on the issue as it is still
considering an appeal by the NPA against Judge Chris Nicholson’s finding in
the Zuma case that it was improper for
the executive to meddle in the work of the NPA *2.
With acknowledgements to Hajra Omarjee and Business Day.