By Karyn Maughan and Gaye Davis
Menzi Simelane has been described as "arrogant", "condescending" and guilty of misconceptions about the functioning of the Justice Department he formerly headed.
But President Jacob Zuma is adamant that 39-year-old Simelane is the perfect man to head the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) - an organisation whose former head, Vusi Pikoli, he fought to oust from office.
NPA spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga sought yesterday to dispel what he claimed were negative "perceptions" about the NPA staff's almost universal disdain for Simelane, who until recently was under investigation by the Public Service Commission for his "highly irregular" conduct in the Ginwala Inquiry.
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"It's a perception that people in the NPA hate him ... We like him, we welcome him," he said.
Asked if Simelane had plans to reverse any of the decisions made during Pikoli's tenure, Mhaga answered: "All decisions taken will be above board."
While acknowledging that Simelane had been vocal in his criticism of the NPA to the Ginwala Inquiry, Mhaga insisted that this animosity was water under the bridge.
Mhaga's comments are in stark contrast to those made by the NPA staff.
All expressed shock at Simelane's appointment, which they say they saw as the beginning of the demise of any prosecutorial independence that had existed in the NPA.
"(Simelane) is a government yes-man," one senior prosecutor said.
Opposition parties expressed outrage at the appointment yesterday.
DA justice spokeswoman Dene Smuts MP and ID leader Patricia de Lille described the choice of Simelane as "shocking", with De Lille describing him as "arrogant".
"It is difficult to imagine a more inappropriate choice," Smuts said.
Zuma insisted yesterday he was confident that Simelane would make the NPA's "independence and vigour" his "utmost priority".
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