NPA head the last person we want captured, says Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the next head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) should be “free from the hands of the state capturers”.
Ramaphosa made the remarks at the annual Heads of Missions conference at Department of International Relations and Cooperation on Tuesday.
The annual conference allows South African ambassadors to interact with the president about various challenges and issues affecting the country outside its borders.
This was the first dialogue with Ramaphosa since he became head of state in February.
“Processes to restore confidence in our institutions and organisations of governance are also underway. We are investigating and prosecution cases of corruption as many of you would have noticed, we are now moving forward to appoint the next NDPP (National Director of Public Prosecutions).
“The panel has been put in place and will interview a plethora of people who are possible candidates and in the end they will select a few names which the president will then appoint. We are hoping that the appointee will be a person who one is not captured. Truth be told, that is the last person we ever want to be captured, we want them to be as slippery from the hands of capturers as possible, because they have an important role to play,’’ Ramaphosa said.
The Presidency recently appointed a panel of independent organisations to identify the next prosecutions head.
The position became vacant in August, when former NPA head Shaun Abrahams announced his retirement.
Abrahams resigned after the Constitutional Court found his appointment by then President Jacob Zuma to have been unconstitutional and invalid.
President Ramaphosa also tackled the issue of corruption, saying those who have been implicated in corrupt activities must be held accountable.
“One of the challenges, as you all know, that we faced was corruption. Corruption has and had become so endemic in our country, as to get us to almost begin to be a failing state. But we are arresting that, we are turning that around and the Zondo Commission is doing its work wonderfully and the truth of what has happened in the past, is beginning to come out.”
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