Those before him promised to serve the nation without fear or favour. They swore they would uphold the values of the office. But over the years we have seen them vacate it prematurely, some with a cloud hanging over their heads.At the centre of these departures lay politics in all its ugly forms.Yesterday, the new national director of public prosecutions, advocate Shaun Abrahams, introduced himself to the nation. He, too, had encouraging words to say. We have again been reassured that our prosecutorial services are in safe hands."I'll be a slave driver. I'm a career prosecutor. I'm one of you. I stood where you stood. I feel the pain that you feel," he told the media.He said his job was not to protect individual interests but to serve the nation with diligence. He also promised to put to a stop divisions and factional battles engulfing the National Prosecuting Authority."We need to vigorously fight the scourge of corruption, organised crime and fraud," he said.We have no reason to doubt Abrahams or his wish to clean up the institution. We have no doubt that he means well. As a career prosecutor, he knows what is at stake.But we have reasons to be cautious.Can Abrahams survive in a climate in which the state finds it easy to tactically ignore court orders? South Africa today needs a strong prosecutions administration that can stand up to outside influence.Today, there are a number of cases that are going nowhere fast because they involve powerful individuals.The previous NPA bosses were either pushed or forced to resign because of decisions they took or failed to take. Failure to bring stability to the NPA andcarry out his job independently will taint Abrahams's career forever.Justice Minister Michael Masutha aptly put it yesterday when he said to Abrahams: "Welcome to the hot seat. Make sure you don't burn."..