Zuma wants Abrahams to tell him why he shouldn't be suspended

President Jacob Zuma has asked National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Shaun Abrahams to give reasons why he should not be suspended.

The Presidency on Tuesday said Zuma had given notice of intention to request reasons why Abrahams and advocates Sibongile Mzinyathi and Torie Pretorius should not be suspended and whether an inquiry into their fitness to hold office should go ahead.

"The President’s decision follows a request by Freedom Under Law and the Helen Suzman Foundation for the President to suspend the three advocates pending an inquiry into their fitness to hold office‚" spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga said.

This was relation to how the prosecution and subsequent withdrawal of charges against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and two former SA Revenue Service staff was handled. Last month‚ Abrahams announced the withdrawal of charges against Gordhan‚ Ivan Pillay and Oupa Magashule.

Gordhan was set to face two charges of fraud linked to his approval of early retirement for Pillay‚ a former Sars deputy commissioner‚ and then reappointing him on contract in 2010‚ during the minister’s first stint as the head of the Treasury.

Abrahams had come under intense pressure since he announced that Gordhan had been summonsed to appear in court on November 2 on two charges of fraud.

After announcing the dropping of the charges‚ calls mounted for his removal as national director of public prosecutions and an inquiry into his fitness to hold office.

Before the charges were dropped it emerged in media reports that Abrahams had met Zuma at ANC headquarters Luthuli House a day before he announced that Gordhan had been summonsed.

The meeting fuelled speculation that the case against Gordhan was politically motivated despite Abrahams and the Presidency saying their meeting was held to discuss the ongoing crisis over tertiary education funding.

The NPA is in a state of turmoil as Abrahams' deputy Ngcobo Jiba is also facing possible suspension after the high court in Pretoria struck her name off the roll of advocates. She is appealing the decision.

She has since been placed on special leave but has also had to give Zuma reasons why she should not be suspended.

 - TMG Digital/BusinessLIVE