The appointment of Menzi Simelane as national prosecutions boss could be challenged after it emerged that a formal complaint has been laid against him as an advocate.

President Jacob Zuma's appointment has attracted cries of dismay from opposition parties and a host of political commentators and legal experts.

But now Simelane's legal standing as an advocate is also under threat.

Senior Counsel Patrick Ellis, head of the ethics committee for the Pretoria Society of Advocates, confirmed to the Cape Argus today that he had received a formal complaint against Simelane, specifically regarding his testimony before ANC elder and former Speaker Frene Ginwala's commission of inquiry into the fitness to hold office of Simelane's predecessor, Vusi Pikoli.
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