Paid+Hack+Nkosi+threatens+YCL+elected+Chairperson+Masondo



=National Prosecuting Authority will no longer tolerate malicious attacks=

Sunday Times, Johannesburg, 19 March 2006

 * By Makhosini Nkosi**



IN HIS article “Zuma saga analysis uses quackery, resulting in a total misdiagnosis” (March 12), David Masondo deviates from the substance of the debate at hand and veers to the usual, convenient bashing of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to hide his article’s bankruptcy.

Masondo uses the tired, past-its-sell-by-date ruse of referring to the former national director’s statement on August 23 2003 that there was a prima facie case of corruption against then Deputy President Jacob Zuma even though he was not going to be charged because the case against him would be unwinnable. Respectfully, the offending statement is irrelevant to Zuma’s current problems with the law for the following reasons:


 * The Public Protector made findings on it and his report was adopted by Parliament. After that the matter was duly closed;
 * The statement has never been repeated against Zuma or any of the suspects or accused in cases that the NPA deals with; and
 * Zuma is now facing two provisional counts of corruption and he will have his proverbial day in court come July 31.

Masondo makes an unqualified assumption when referring to the so-called “unlawful raids” on Zuma’s lawyers’ offices. He over-simplifies a complex ongoing legal matter and uses it to insinuate that the NPA abused its powers in conducting the search-and-seizure operations at the various premises.

Both the judgments by the Johannesburg and Durban high courts against the NPA are being appealed against. Judge Ismail Hussein, when considering the NPA’s application for leave to appeal, ruled that the Supreme Court of Appeal should hear the matter because at issue was the interpretation of the NPA Act. This is the legislation the NPA used in obtaining the search warrants.

The NPA lost the cases because of, among other things, the interpretation the judges ascribed to provisions of the Act. Neither the Johannesburg High Court nor the Durban High Court ruled that the NPA abused its powers in conducting the searches.

Masondo makes another unsubstantiated claim, namely that some “[ANC] members are abusing state institutions in breach of the Constitution”. This is a barely veiled attack on the NPA.

I invite Masondo and his ilk to read the NPA Act and the prosecutorial guidelines, which are in the public domain. A fleeting examination of the two documents will reveal that no single person or group of people can institute a malicious or irregular NPA investigation or prosecution against any citizen. Equally, no single person or group of people can subvert a legitimate investigation or prosecution.

Furthermore, all individuals from the level of National Director of Public Prosecutions to entry-level prosecutor take an oath to uphold the Constitution and to enforce the law without fear, favour or prejudice.

Another claim that has been made in the past to justify the attacks on the NPA is that the prosecuting authority has been leaking sensitive information about its investigations to the media. Recently Zuma made such a claim about an affidavit by a potential witness, suggesting that convicted businessman Schabir Shaik paid a prostitute on a retainer basis to entertain Zuma.

A couple of weeks ago the Public Protector ruled that there was no evidence to substantiate the claim. He added that such claims cause “perceptions of mistrust and a loss of confidence in the minds of millions of people that rely on the NPA to deal with our high crime rate in an effective manner and should be avoided at all costs”.

Before this, Zuma and his attorneys had also accused the NPA of leaking a list of questions its investigators had sent to them. This newspaper published the article about the questions, and the reporter who wrote the story maintains her silence on who her sources were, despite having left journalism. She is now an aide of Zuma!

I cannot speak about the time before the tenure of the current NPA head, advocate Vusi Pikoli, or my own time as the NPA spokesman. But since I have held this position I have observed the NPA doing its utmost to treat Zuma with dignity, observing his rights as a citizen of this country.

When search-and-seizure operations were conducted on his premises and those of his associates, the NPA imposed a media blackout on the matter. However, the operation was confirmed to a Johannesburg radio station by someone very close to Zuma, sparking a media frenzy outside the latter’s Johannesburg residence.

When the Durban High Court effectively found that there was “overwhelming” evidence of a generally corrupt relationship between Shaik and Zuma, the NPA considered the judgment and made its decision to prosecute the latter without any infringements on his person and dignity. The NPA conducted itself with dignity and respect for Zuma’s rights. This we did not do because we wanted to ingratiate ourselves with any of the alleged sides in the ruling elite; we did it because it was simply the right thing to do.

We do not have a problem with Masondo or anybody else showing support for Zuma or anyone who may be in conflict with the law. However, the NPA will no longer brook malicious attacks on its integrity, which undermine public confidence in this important law-enforcement agency and organ of state.

Nkosi is the spokesman for the NPA


 * From: http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/articles/article.aspx?ID=ST6A172534