President Cyril Ramaphosa is on course to meet a mid-December deadline imposed by the Constitutional Court to appoint the country’s top prosecutor. On Sunday, an advisory panel appointed by Ramaphosa gave the president its shortlist of five candidates from which to choose the national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) to succeed Shaun Abrahams, who was axed in August. Eleven candidates were interviewed. Ramaphosa has until December 19 to make the appointment. Advocates Shamila Batohi, Siyabulela Mapoma, Simphiwe Mlotshwa, Rodney de Kock and Andrea Johnson are the contenders for the post. Interviews were conducted in Pretoria. The successful candidate will lead the charge to stabilise the prosecuting authority, which was described during the interviews as highly fractured and riven by divisions over political interference in its work. It is the first time since the unit’s establishment in 1998 that the NDPP will be appointed through a transparent process. The constitution gives ...

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