Simelane grilled over BOSASA, Scorpions disbandment in bid to return as NPA head

Former prosecutions boss Menzi Simelane has told a panel interviewing him in his bid to return to the position that he refused to prosecute BOSASA cases during his previous tenure.

Simelane spent nearly four hours in the hot seat, being interviewed for the position of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head. He faced tough questions on his almost three-year stint as the NPA head, a period that ended when he was ousted in 2012. The Constitutional Court found that his appointment by former President Jacob Zuma was invalid.

During his testimony, Simelane spoke about the disbanding of the Scorpions (Directorate of Special Operations, or DSO), a process he was part of.

He also spoke about how members of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) who moved from the disbanded Scorpions tried to get him to sign off on BOSASA-linked prosecutions.

"So I said, 'No, I’m not signing anything,' why? Because [of] serious suspicion. I knew the things that the DSO (Scorpions) were accused of doing from many quarters because, as DG the executive authority received lots of letters of complaints – I got sight of some of them, some I didn’t. But there was a general complaint about the DSO."