NPA boss leaves door open for review of Gordhan prosecution

"I'm enjoined by section 179 (5) of the Constitution of this country and by section 22 (2) of the NPA Act to review the decision to prosecute in the event that Mr Gordhan, Mr Pillay and Mr Magashula request me to review same. I will be pleased to review if I'm asked to do so," Abrahams told journalists after briefing Parliament's portfolio committee on justice.

Gordhan, former South African Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Oupa Magashula and former acting Sars boss Ivan Pillay face fraud charges related to Pillay's early retirement. They were served with summons to appear in the Pretoria Regional Court on November 2.

Abrahams said while the three were free to approach him to review the decision to prosecute, he insisted the NPA had made the right call.

"Firstly, I'm extremely confident by the prosecutors that looked into the matter, that decided on the prosecution in respect of the matter, otherwise we would have never taken the matter to court," he said.

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"The NPA do not take matters to court if they don't believe there are reasonable prospects of a success on prosecution."

Abrahams refused to be drawn on claims by Gordhan's lawyers that it would be difficult to prove fraud against the minister.

"It will be completely irresponsible of me to discuss the merits of the matter and the technical nature of the fraud in respect of this matter and I implore you to wait until the trial…when the evidence is presented," he said.

Asked whether in light of the public outcry over Gordhan's arrest and the impact on the South African economy, it was wise to prosecute, Abrahams insisted his team did the right thing.

"The team considered public interest. We always consider the public interest but we don't of course take into consideration the wishes of the community. We always do what's best in the interests of the administration of justice," he said.

He refused to discuss accusations by political commentators that the timing of the summons delivered to Gordhan, just two weeks before he was due to deliver the medium-term budget policy statement, was suspect.

He did however make reference to the so-called spy tapes which the NPA, under Mokotedi Mpshe, used to prove that Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy and former NPA head Bulelani Ngcuka had manipulated the legal process when it charged President Jacob Zuma with corruption, eventually leading to the charges being dropped.

"You must also remember what happened in the spy tapes matter and the conduct of Leonard McCarthy and advocate Ngcuka around the timing of the prosecution. I didn't want my institution caught in a similar situation so the moment the investigation was concluded, a decision had been made to prosecute…," said Abrahams.

He maintained there was no political pressure to prosecute.

"I certainly made it clear that if there's any political interference or interference from anybody I personally will hold them accountable. I will have it investigated and I will drag people before our courts for trying to defeat the ends of justice and influencing the prosecuting authority," he said.

"I'll always prosecute without fear, favour or prejudice. It does not matter if it's an ordinary man on the street or if it's the highest citizen in this country."

Pressed on whether this meant he would decide soon whether the NPA would reinstate corruption charges against Zuma, Abrahams cited Wednesday's proceedings in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein where judges ruled that Zuma's petition for leave to appeal a North Gauteng High Court ruling that a decision to drop the 783 corruption charges against the president was irrational would be heard in open court.

"Let's wait for these processes to unfold and then we'll make a decision on the way forward."

Abrahams said they were consulting with senior counsel on the way forward, but were likely to wait for the outcome of petition to the SCA first.

The Constitutional Court last week ruled that it was not "prepared at this stage" to hear an appeal by the NPA against the high court ruling.