Johannesburg - The Constitutional Court will on Monday rule on the legality of Shaun Abrahams’s appointment as National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP).
The apex court heard in February an application seeking to confirm two declaratory orders of constitutional invalidity and an application seeking leave to appeal a High Court ruling that found that Abrahams’s appointment was illegal.
The court had come to this conclusion after it found that the termination of then NDPP Mxolisi Nxasana’s term of office was not done lawfully and as such Abrahams’s appointment as the head of the NPA as well as Nxasana’s R17 million "golden handshake" were invalid.
The High Court then ruled that then deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa should be the one to appoint a new head for the NPA within 60 days.
Abrahams appealed the decision along with former president Jacob Zuma.
Zuma had objected to his deputy being ordered to appoint the head of the NPA, while Abrahams and the NPA were appealing the setting aside of Abrahams’s appointment.
Nxasana was appointed in 2013 and had tumultuous reign at the NPA which ended with a suspension and an inquiry into his fitness to hold office.
He had filed a filed a court application to argue against his suspension but abandoned that court action after negotiations with former president Jacob Zuma.
He was given a R17 million "golden handshake" to leave the job.