The DA will ask parliament to institute an inquiry, led by the parliamentary justice committee, into the appointment of National Prosecuting Authority head Mxolisi Nxasana.
DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane said yesterday that the party would also recommend changes to the protocols governing the appointment of national directors of public prosecutions to ensure that they met all constitutional requirements.
Nxasana refused to accede to former justice minister Jeff Radebe's demand that he resign. Radebe said Nxasana could not be given the required security clearance because, though he had been acquitted, he had faced a murder charge.
Maimane and new DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach said reports suggested that Nxasana was being politically intimidated because he was considering resurrecting corruption and fraud charges against former police spy boss Richard Mdluli.
Said Maimane: "Political interference in the National Prosecuting Authority has left our prosecutorial integrity in tatters.
"Rocked by scandal after scandal, the NPA has been left with an extremely poor reputation. The South African people do not believe that it is capable of putting criminals behind bars."
Breytenbach said that though she believed staff morale at the NPA was at an all-time low, the staff did not speak ill of Nxasana.
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