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Former National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Bulelani Ngcuka.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Cases Inquiry in Johannesburg has heard that the then National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Vusi Pikoli should have simply been directed by the law on whether or not to prosecute TRC cases.
This is the view of South Africa’s first National Director of Public Prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka, at the inquiry.
He was asked to reflect on a secret memorandum from Pikoli to the then Justice Minister Bridgitte Mabandla, where the former complained of political interference by a forum of directors general.
The memorandum wanted him to wait for its recommendations before proceeding with prosecutions.
Ngcuka says he is hesitant to judge those who succeeded him at the NPA.
“You don’t know the circumstances under which they were operating. One does not have all the facts. And I don’t want to be seen as critical of my successors. But let me say this, I cannot find any reason why the national director can say he does not know what to do.”
“The law is clear. You make the decision. You prosecute. You don’t ask for advice from other people. That would have been my view. So I don’t know what caused my colleague to make that decision. But at the end of the day, he should have been the one to say no,” explains Ngcuka.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTPDAv4ltwg
