Panel interviewing NPA head candidates to hear from former prosecutions boss

The panel interviewing candidates for the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) is on Thursday expected to hear from a candidate who once held the position.

Advocate Menzi Simelane is among six contenders being interviewed for the top prosecutor job.

His nomination has caused outrage, as his previous appointment to the role by former President Jacob Zuma was ruled invalid.

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Freedom Under Law challenges Simelane’s NDPP candidacy

DA threatens to interdict NDPP interviews, reveals Justice Minister

The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday slapped the panel with a letter threatening to interdict the interviews.

At the heart of the DA’s objection is the nomination of Simelane as one of the candidates to be considered for the top prosecutor job at the NationalProsecuting Authority (NPA).

In its letter to the advisory panel, the party said Simelane’s shortlisting alone renders the entire process irrational, unlawful and unconstitutional.

But the Minister of Justice, Mmamoloko Kubayi, who’s the chair of the panel, dismissed the DA’s concerns as having no merit.

“I will not go into detail because we do believe that this is self-inflicted urgency but also there are no merit on it because we have not shortlisted. So, the lawyers will respond to the attorneys and the DA.”

Simelane will be the last candidate to appear before the panel.

Before him, the panel will interview Advocate Xolisile Khanyile, the former director of the Financial Intelligence Centre, and Advocate Hermione Cronje, the former Investigating Directorate (ID) head.