Parly's Joint Constitutional Review Committee rejects submission to amend law in appointment of NDDP head
It also proposes a removal process similar to that of a head of a Chapter 9 institution.
FILE: National Prosecuting Authority offices in Pretoria. Picture: Eyewitness News
CAPE TOWN - Parliament's Joint Constitutional Review Committee has dismissed a submission to amend the supreme law to change the manner in which a National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) is appointed and can be removed from office.
The proposal was made back in 2021 by the African Criminal Justice Reform (ACJR) and is one of ten submissions the committee has been considering on Friday as it looks to finalise submissions that were not dealt with by the previous administration.
While opposition parties have recently been agitating for the removal of the current NDPP Shamila Batohi and the Democratic Alliance (DA) has been advocating for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) independence, their votes were not enough to take the proposal further.
In its submission, the ACJR, a project of the Dullah Omar Institute at the University of the Western Cape, proposes that the appointment of the NDPP and other senior positions within the NPA be an open and transparent process.
It also proposes a removal process similar to that of a head of a Chapter 9 institution.
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This is one of two submissions that proposed a change in the way the NDPP is appointed.
Although President Cyril Ramaphosa opened up the last recruitment process for the current NDPP in 2018, ultimately, he has the sole power to make this appointment.
The Umkhonto Wesizwe Party's Sibonelo Nomvalo says this is problematic.
"If he's still happy with the incumbent in the NPA, he's not going to do anything notwithstanding strong views of the society and equally strong views of Parliament."
While the DA's Nicola du Plessis also supported the submission, saying additional accountability measures for the judiciary are welcomed, the African National Congress (ANC)'s Tshiamo Tshotetsi said the operations of the NPA are not impacted by how the NDPP is appointed.
By a narrow margin of only two votes, the submission fell short of being supported.