Abrahams: I will not resign but heads will roll

National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shaun Abrahams has withdrawn fraud charges against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and former SARS employees, Ivan Pillay and Oupa Magashula.

Abrahams said even though they had made such a big mistake by instituting the cases in the first place, he would not resign.

However, he said that he will have to look if there is anyone else who might get the boot.

“Will I resign? Certainly not, Certainly not,” Abrahams said with much less arrogance than when he initially addressed the media when he told them he had just slapped the trio with summonses to appear on charges of fraud.

“I certainly do not owe anybody an apology,” a defiant Abrahams said.

“I will have to look into whose head has to roll in respect of this matter,” he told journalists at a briefing in Pretoria.

Abrahams said while the fraud charges had been withdrawn, he had been advised that the investigation into the so called Sars rogue spy unit is still continuing.

“I do hope that after today’s briefing there is some degree of how the public see the role of the national director. I don’t know what decisions are taken by prosecutors in every court in the country,” he said.

Before he announced that the charges were withdrawn, he read from a long statement regarding Pravin, Pillay and Magashula’s work history at the time of the application and thereafter.

He also read rules and regulations regarding the application to early retirement and what applied at the time that Pillay applied for early retirement.

I informed the minister of justice and the minister of correctional services of this decision, he said.

The withdrawal of the case follows after Sars deputy director Vlok Symington opened a case of kidnapping following a video clip and media reports last week that Symington had been locked in a boardroom in the Sars head office while the Hawks and Sars boss Tom Moyane’s bodyguards attempted to get him to make an affidavit in the fraud case against Gordhan.

Symington was the author of the 2009 legal opinion which the Helen Suzman Foundation and Freedom Under Law used to file an application to the Pretoria High Court requesting that the fraud charges against Gordhan be set aside. In that opinion‚ he states that there was “no technicality” stopping Sars from reappointing former deputy commissioner Ivan Pillay on a contract basis after an early retirement payout.

Abrahams said he was not aware of this information until it was presented to him by these foundations and the lawyers of Pillay and Magashula.

Abrahams also stated that he never once met the Hawks during this investigation and to make his decision to prosecute Gordhan, Pillay and Magashula.

“I have never met the Hawks,” Abrahams said.

Abrahams went on to say that he is more upbeat than ever about the integrity of the NPA and that is precisely why he called this press briefing to tell you [the media] what has transpired.

“This is called transparency. We must always do what is right. I have reviewed this matter and neither Mr Pillay nor Mr Gordhan nor Mr Magashula has spent a day in court,” he added.

– Caxton News Service