Counsel for President Jacob Zuma has opposed the application by Freedom Under Law and the Helen Suzman Foundation that the court order the suspension of national prosecutions head Shaun Abrahams and two other prosecutors.
Ishmail Semenya SC‚ for Zuma‚ said the application was premature and not ripe for hearing.
He said the reason was that Zuma had taken steps to act on the request made by the organisations in a letter dated November 1.
The organisations wrote a letter to Zuma earlier asking him to suspend Abrahams and two other prosecutors‚ Torie Pretorius and Sibongil Mzinyathi‚ pending an inquiry into their fitness to hold office.
The organisations sought the prosecutors’ suspension because they believed they had committed misconduct in the manner in which fraud charges were preferred and later withdrawn against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan last month.
Zuma wrote to the prosecutors on November 14 giving them until November 28 to make representations on why they should not be suspended‚ pending an inquiry into their fitness to hold office.
Despite Zuma’s letter to the prosecutors‚ the organisations set the matter down for hearing on an urgent basis in the high court in Pretoria on Thursday.
The full bench of the high court is dealing with the question of whether the matter is urgent.
Semenya said the organisation’s application — to the court to order the prosecutors’ suspension pending an inquiry into their fitness to hold office — was an impermissible intrusion into the domain of the executive.
Hilton Epstein SC‚ for Abrahams‚ also opposed the application and said there was no urgency in the application.
Jaap Cilliers SC‚ for Pretorius‚ said Zuma wanted to establish true facts when he called for representations from the prosecutors on November 14.
“The position was that some two weeks ago‚ (Freedom Under Law and the Helen Suzman Foundation ) knew what the approach of the president was.”
Cilliers said there was no basis for hearing the application on an urgent basis and characterised the organisations’ application as an abuse of process.
He said the organisations knew that Zuma was dealing with their request but they still approached the court on an urgent basis.
Cilliers asked the court to dismiss the application and make a punitive costs order.
The application continues.
Zuma‚ prosecutors oppose bid to suspend Shaun Abrahams
Counsel for President Jacob Zuma has opposed the application by Freedom Under Law and the Helen Suzman Foundation that the court order the suspension of national prosecutions head Shaun Abrahams and two other prosecutors.
Ishmail Semenya SC‚ for Zuma‚ said the application was premature and not ripe for hearing.
He said the reason was that Zuma had taken steps to act on the request made by the organisations in a letter dated November 1.
The organisations wrote a letter to Zuma earlier asking him to suspend Abrahams and two other prosecutors‚ Torie Pretorius and Sibongil Mzinyathi‚ pending an inquiry into their fitness to hold office.
The organisations sought the prosecutors’ suspension because they believed they had committed misconduct in the manner in which fraud charges were preferred and later withdrawn against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan last month.
Zuma wrote to the prosecutors on November 14 giving them until November 28 to make representations on why they should not be suspended‚ pending an inquiry into their fitness to hold office.
Despite Zuma’s letter to the prosecutors‚ the organisations set the matter down for hearing on an urgent basis in the high court in Pretoria on Thursday.
The full bench of the high court is dealing with the question of whether the matter is urgent.
Semenya said the organisation’s application — to the court to order the prosecutors’ suspension pending an inquiry into their fitness to hold office — was an impermissible intrusion into the domain of the executive.
Hilton Epstein SC‚ for Abrahams‚ also opposed the application and said there was no urgency in the application.
Jaap Cilliers SC‚ for Pretorius‚ said Zuma wanted to establish true facts when he called for representations from the prosecutors on November 14.
“The position was that some two weeks ago‚ (Freedom Under Law and the Helen Suzman Foundation ) knew what the approach of the president was.”
Cilliers said there was no basis for hearing the application on an urgent basis and characterised the organisations’ application as an abuse of process.
He said the organisations knew that Zuma was dealing with their request but they still approached the court on an urgent basis.
Cilliers asked the court to dismiss the application and make a punitive costs order.
The application continues.
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