Sunday Times Editorial: THE ruling by five Supreme Court of Appeal judges that the appointment of Menzi Simelane to the position of national director of public prosecutions was fatally flawed has shown up President Jacob Zuma's weakness for political manipulation.

Delivering judgment, Judge Mohammed Navsa said: "I accept that the president must have a multitude of duties and is a very busy man. However, when he is dealing with an office as important as that of national director of public prosecutions then time should be taken to get it right."

Then he was less kind: "On the available evidence, the president could not have reached a conclusion favourable to Simelane, as there were too many questions concerning his integrity and experience."

When Zuma appointed Simelane, a man palpably unsuitable for a position which demands the highest integrity and honesty, he did so with his eyes open.

A commission headed by the former Speaker of the National Assembly, Frene Ginwala, had found that Simelane gave "misleading and untruthful evidence" that was "contradictory and without basis in fact and law".

The question which must be answered is why Zuma went ahead with this appointment in the face of such strong condemnation by a highly respected member of his own political party.

It has become a popular cause to hang this - and several other blunders, including irregular appointments to the arms deal commission which had to be reversed - around the neck of the Minister of Justice, Jeff Radebe.

He must shoulder some of the blame. After all, he put his name to an embarrassing rebuttal of Ginwala when Simelane was appointed. But it was Zuma's bad decision, and he must take the blame.

Zuma placed his political objective - the taming of a prosecution authority which had been sniffing around his own affairs - above consideration of the legal and ethical ramifications of elevating an untrustworthy man to a very responsible position.

The prosecuting authority he wished to tame had put Tony Yengeni behind bars over irregular dealings related to the arms deal. It had begun the prosecution of former police commissioner Jackie Selebi, whose appeal against the jail term that resulted failed on Friday. Then it had focused its attention on Zuma himself. It was only after a dubious decision by the then head of the organisation, Mokotedi Mpshe, to drop charges that his political fortunes improved.

But Mpshe was not good enough for Zuma. He wanted someone willing to publicly state, as Simelane had, that the prosecuting authority ought to genuflect in the presence of its political masters.

For now, the courts, which Zuma wishes to bring to heel, stand between Zuma and absolute rule.