ANC Parliamentary Caucus Statement On The Suspension Of The National Director Of Public Prosecutions
26 September 2007
The ANC Parliamentary Caucus rejects calls by the DA and the ACDP for an urgent meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Justice to investigate the suspension of National Director of Public Prosecutions, Adv. Vusi Pikoli, by President Thabo Mbeki on Monday.
The call by the two parties disregards the letter and spirit of the National Prosecuting Act, which guides both the President and Parliament in this matter.
In terms of the Act the President may provisionally suspend the National Director from his or her office, pending an inquiry into his or her fitness to hold office. Should the President wish to remove the National Director as a result of such an inquiry, he or she will communicate a message to Parliament. Parliament has a final say on whether the National Director should or should not retain the position.
By calling on the Portfolio Committee on Justice to investigate the matter even before an inquiry has commenced would go against the fundamental provisions of the Act and undermine Parliament�s role in the matter by pre-empting what it might at a later stage be called upon to do.
Parliament cannot act in contravention of the laws it has passed for the sake of political point scoring. All political parties share in the responsibility of informing and explaining to the public the values that underpin our democracy and the provisions of the laws they have been part of making.
Issued by the ANC Parliamentary Caucus
