NEW NPA HEAD
Cyril Ramaphosa in major shift asking panel to help find Shaun Abrahams's replacement
The move is a departure from the unilateral and opaque nature of previous appointments at the National Prosecuting Authority
In an unprecedented move, President Cyril Ramaphosa is turning to an outside panel to help him identify a new head for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The move to consult more widely in the search for a replacement for former national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) Shaun Abrahams — a Jacob Zuma appointee best known for a farcical attempt to prosecute then finance minister Pravin Gordhan in 2016 — is a major departure from the unilateral and opaque nature of previous appointments. Ramaphosa has slightly more than a month left to appoint a new leader for an institution that is central to crime fighting. The decision to seek advice from top legal organisations comes after hundreds of desperate prosecutors appealed to the president to address the "absence of proper leadership". The vacuum at the top had left the organisation "weak and divided", the Society of State Advocates and Prosecutors of SA (Saapsa) said in a letter sent to Ramaphosa in September and posted on it...
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