Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma on Thursday appointed Advocate Shaun Kevin Abrahams as the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) with immediate effect.
Abrahams, a senior state advocate in the Priority Crimes Litigation Unit in the office of the NDPP, takes over as the head of the prosecuting authority after Mxolisi Nxasana stepped down last month after reaching a settlement agreement with Zuma.
Silas Ramaite had been acting as NDPP after Nxasana’s departure.
In a statement on Thursday, Zuma said: “Adv Abrahams has 17 years of experience in the prosecution service. During this period, he has accumulated vast experience and has gained impeccable technical expertise. I am confident that he will be able to enhance the efficiency of the National Prosecuting Authority. I wish him well in this critical responsibility.”
The new National Director of Public Prosecutions holds the degrees of Baccalareus (B Iuris), Baccalaureus Procurationis (B Proc) and Bachelor of Laws (LLB), all from the University of Natal, now University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).
Zuma thanked Ramaite for his service.
In a statement last month, the presidency said: “President Jacob Zuma has reached a settlement with the Head of the National Prosecution Authority (NPA), Mr Mxolisi Nxasana, in terms of which Mr Nxasana will vacate his position as National Director of Public Prosecutions from 1 June 2015.”
The terms of the settlement were not disclosed but it ended a 10-month standoff between Zuma and Nxasana. It began in July last year when Zuma announced that he would institute an inquiry into Nxasana’s fitness to hold office after it emerged that he had failed to disclose past brushes with the law, including a murder charge in the 1980s on which he was acquitted. The inquiry was called off hours before it was finally due to start last month.
ANA