'Unfit NPA boss has harmed the rule of law'
But SA a darned sight better off than we were in the old regime, says former Constitutional Court justice
The attempt by Shaun Abrahams to prosecute Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan may have been politically motivated and a dereliction of duty - and may have taken South Africa to the edge of economic disaster - but to charge the chief prosecutor with economic sabotage could be a bridge too far, says former Constitutional Court justice and chairman of Freedom Under Law Johann Kriegler. "You will have to prove criminal intent - that the perpetrator or perpetrators had in mind to sabotage the country. That's quite a leap from having acted with recklessness or stupidity or even just plain malice towards Gordhan." But Kriegler, 83, says hard questions still need to be asked about the circumstances surrounding the laying of charges against the minister. "If it could be shown that the National Prosecuting Authority were acting on instructions in prosecuting the minister of finance on spurious grounds, I think you've proved your case of somebody deliberately trying to undermine the financial sta...
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