Fresh court bid to halt NDPP Mothibi’s appointment
B Xulu and Partners Incorporated has filed an urgent supplementary application in the High Court in Pretoria to halt the newly appointed National Director of Public Prosecutions, Andy Mothibi, from taking office.
Mothibi's tenure began on Monday.
He succeeds Shamila Batohi as head of the National Prosecuting Authority.
Advocate Barnabas Xulu argues the appointment by President Cyril Ramaphosa is unlawful and should be set aside, citing a flawed and biased interview process.
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Mothibi, who is the former head of the Special Investigating Unit, wasn't among the six candidates interviewed by an advisory panel to succeed Batohi as National Director of Public Prosecutions.
Legal expert Sunil Singh says that despite the court challenge, Mothibi is legally required to assume office today.
" Now, bearing in mind that he has not been interviewed, he hasn't been through the due process, which all the other seven candidates have been, and there is no justification for his appointment at this point in time in terms of the court papers as indicated in Xulu's papers.
"And obviously he's amended those papers as well to obviously incorporate other aspects of the failure to apply to the processes of what has taken place for the appointment of the head of the NPA."
Meanwhile, the Presidency says it will respond in court, while the Justice Ministry has vowed to strongly oppose the application, calling it baseless.
