The former national director of public prosecutions Mxolisi Nxasana scored something of an own goal in joining a court application to have his successor's appointment declared invalid.
He is without his erstwhile job and without his nest egg. The High Court in Pretoria ruled on Friday that he must pay back his R17-million golden handshake, which it described as irregular and reckless. The judges said it would not be just to reinstate him because he had been persuaded to vacate his office by an unlawful payment.
The rest of us will feel the judgment less personally than Nxasana, and there is more for us to celebrate. Nxasana's consolation is that he has helped clear the way for a credible national director of public prosecutions to be appointed instead of the hapless Shaun Abrahams, famous for lurching from one self-induced crisis of credibility to another. Abrahams has been pilloried for shielding President Jacob Zuma - who is facing 783 counts of corruption - and pursuing Zuma's critics, among them Pravin Gordhan. He clearly failed to do his job without fear or favour, and we will not miss him.The judges said if Abrahams remained in office, Zuma would have achieved exactly what he intended - to get rid of Nxasana. Nxasana came into Zuma's crosshairs when the director was preparing to take action against NPA officials Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi. Both were seen as protecting Zuma crony Richard Mdluli and pursuing those who tangled with the president.
The judges reminded us of the importance of shielding the prosecutions chief from political interference, going so far as to declare the section of the NPA Act that allows the president to suspend the holder of the office unilaterally, indefinitely and without pay to be unconstitutional and invalid. They also said the criminal charges that Zuma faces mean that he would be conflicted if he had to appoint a national director of prosecutions.
We hope that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who the judges have tasked with appointing the new director, will find a person approximating the stature of Vusi Pikoli rather than the sorry parade of successors who followed him. We need an attorney-general with the spine and the space to do his or her job properly...