Ramaphosa orders inquiry into Andrew Chauke’s fitness to hold office after corruption and case-withdrawal allegations.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has started to deal with an individual linked to the state capture.
This is the view of civil society following Ramaphosa’s move to establish a commission of inquiry probe into advocate Andrew Chauke’s fitness to hold office as South Gauteng director of public prosecutions.
The inquiry, which is expected to start soon, comes after Ramaphosa suspended Chauke in July over allegations of corruption, including the lack of prosecutions and the withdrawal of cases related to state capture.
President suspends Andrew Chauke and appoints a commission
Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said: “Based on certain serious allegations regarding Chauke’s fitness and propriety to hold office and member of the prosecuting authority, the president, acting pursuant to Section 12(6)(a) of the National Prosecuting Authority Act, has suspended Chauke, effective from 20 July, on full pay pending the finalisation of an inquiry into his fitness to hold office.”
Magwenya said Ramaphosa appointed retired justice Bess Nkabinde as commission chair, assisted by advocate Elizabeth Baloyi-Mere and attorney Thenjiwe Vilakazi as panel members.
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“The panel shall inquire into, report on, and make findings and recommendations on allegations,” he said. Magwenya did not say when the commission was going to start working.
“It will start working on finalisation of related logistics. So, it’s hard to give a date at this stage. The chair will finalise with the relevant stakeholders,” he said.
Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse executive director Stefanie Fick said: “It may very well be that the president is cleaning out individuals linked to state capture, but he is doing it extremely slowly and very selectively.
‘President should have acted a long time ago’
“The charges against Chauke have been there for a while; the president should have acted a long time ago. Political interference is ongoing and there appears to be no political will to fix it.”
Fick welcomed the establishment of the commission and said it appears to be an objective inquiry led by a seasoned retired judge who is assisted by two other senior lawyers.
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“The president has 12 months from the date on which advocate Chauke was put on suspension to make a decision to remove or not to remove him. If the president decides to remove advocate Chauke, the decision has to be tabled in parliament within 14 days,” she said.
“The allegations against Chauke are serious and if he is found to be unfit to hold office, he should be removed from office. We need ethical leaders to take the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority] forward.”
“If Chauke is implicated in the Madlanga commission, it will be dealt with separately from the inquiry into his fitness to hold office. The inquiry into Chauke’s fitness is like a disciplinary hearing, with the objective to establish whether he is fit to be in the office of the NPA.
Leader ‘should have a good reputation’
“The Madlanga commission is looking at the infiltration of law enforcement, intelligence and associated institutions within the criminal justice system by criminal syndicates,” she said.
Public Service Accountability Monitor’s Zukiswa Kota said the person regarded as a leader of such an important institution “should have a good reputation, and not be corrupt”.
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“The National Prosecuting Authority is a fundamental institution within the country’s criminal justice and accountability ecosystem, given its mandate in preparing and conducting criminal case prosecutions,” said Kota.
“For this reason, the leadership of the NPA must live up to the principles of fostering a justice system that is objective, free from fear and transparent, and themselves be persons of integrity who conduct their roles impartially and fairly.”
Chauke, who was appointed by former president Jacob Zuma, is accused of protecting corrupt officials.
Accused of protecting Mdluli, Zuma’s son
He is accused of protecting murder-accused and former head of Crime Intelligence Services Richard Mdluli.
He was also accused of shielding Zuma’s son, Edward Zuma, from being prosecuted on corruption charges.
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