Former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Chris Macadam, says political interference in apartheid-era prosecutions reached the highest levels of government, with senior police officials and government ministers allegedly obstructing the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) efforts to pursue long-delayed cases.
Testifying at the TRC Cases Inquiry on Wednesday, Macadam detailed how political manoeuvring, missing dockets and attempts to impose executive control over prosecutions contributed to years of delays in cases involving apartheid-era crimes.
Macadam told the inquiry that former National Director of Public Prosecutions, Vusi Pikoli, reached a “dead end” in 2007 after facing resistance from former police commissioner, Jackie Selebi, the Department of Justice and the National Intelligence Agency.
Correspondence presented to the inquiry reportedly showed Selebi insisting that the NPA could not make decisions on TRC prosecutions without approval from a committee of Directors-General, a requirement Pikoli warned was unconstitutional.
Macadam supported Pikoli’s position, questioning why executive officials should have the power to determine whether prosecutions proceed.
“Look at the National Commissioner of Police. When he wrote to Advocate Pikoli in 2007, Advocate Nell and Mr. Leask was at an advanced stage of planning to arrest and prosecute him for serious corruption offenses. So what value are we going to attach to high-ranking officials with those...
Former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Chris Macadam, says political interference in apartheid-era prosecutions reached the highest levels of government, with senior police offici...