President Jacob Zuma has accused lobby groups Freedom Under Law and the Helen Suzman Foundation of seeking to "govern through the courts". In court papers, Zuma said the groups’ rush to court for the suspension of prosecutions head Shaun Abrahams was unnecessary and premature. Abrahams was widely criticised when he announced that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had decided to prosecute Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, sending the rand reeling. When he announced weeks later that the charges had been withdrawn, the criticism amplified into calls for his resignation or suspension. Freedom Under Law and the Helen Suzman Foundation went to the High Court in Pretoria, urgently asking it to set aside Zuma’s "failures" to establish an inquiry into whether Abrahams was fit for his job and to suspend him in the meantime. Under the NPA Act, an inquiry is a necessary preliminary step before the national prosecutions head may be removed by the president. The organisations also sought si...
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