Barnabas Xulu to appeal court ruling on Andy Mothibi’s NPA appointment

Top lawyer Barnabas Xulu plans to appeal Tuesday’s High Court judgment dismissing his application to set aside Andry Mothibi’s appointment as head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

Earlier this month, Xulu approached the Pretoria High Court, arguing the process to appoint Mothibi was unconstitutional.

He’s particularly aggrieved by the inclusion of former investigative directorate head Hermione Cronje as a candidate.

Barnabas Xulu claims Hermione Cronje was sharing internal information with an external party.

He says his objection was largely ignored and that this led to him bringing a legal action to halt the interview process of the panel.

But he was told by the state’s attorney that his application was moot as none of the candidates who were interviewed, including cronje had been appointed

And instead, advocate Andy Mothibi, who was not part of the panel, was appointed.

Xulu then sought to challenge Mothibi’s application on two grounds: one, that President Ramaphosa relied on the panel’s recommendations and two, that Mothibi was not subjected to the same process as the other candidates

But his attempt has failed. The court found there was no proper cause to bring a review as Ramaphosa was within his right to appoint Mothibi.

And that Xulu had no legal standing or right to bring the application before the court.

Speaking to 702 after the judgment, Xulu says the judgment is appealable

"We are encouraged by the court that this is a constitutional matter, that’s why we have not been slapped with costs or the case would have been dismissed outright on the basis that we’re coming to waste the court’s time so on the face of it its definitely going to be appealed."

Andy Mothibi remains head of NPA, albeit for just over two years, as he approaches retirement age.