I was not involved in Pikoli’s suspension – Simelane

Advocate Omphemetse Mooki, appearing for Simelane, asked him what prompted a letter from the then justice minister Brigitte Mabandla – which was drafted by Simelane – to Pikoli in 2007 which called on Pikoli to stop the arrest of former police commissioner Jackie Selebi.

Simelane was director general at the department of justice at the time.

“[The minister] indicated that she received a letter from the president, and to respond she needed information from the NDPP. She first wanted an opportunity to report to the president,” Simelane said.

‘Nothing be done’

He said this was why she asked that “nothing be done” in the case against Selebi.

In a high court affidavit by Pikoli, he said he was told by the minister that he needed to resign because of a breakdown in trust, and he refused.

Pikoli then met with then President Thabo Mbeki, who told him that he was suspending him because he was disappointed in the witness immunities and plea bargains that were made. Pikoli said this was possibly in relation to the Selebi investigation.

Mooki asked Simelane if he was a part of Pikoli’s meetings with the minister or the president, or involved in the preparation of Pikoli’s suspension letter, to which he replied “no”.

In an affidavit by former president Mbeki, he said his initial letter to the minister was confidential, however he authorised the release of the letter, not because the applicant was entitled to it, but because of public interest.

In 2012, the Constitutional Court found the appointment by Zuma of Simelane as national director of public prosecutions to be invalid.

Simelane was appointed NPA boss in 2009.

Decision ‘irrational’

The Constitutional Court found that Zuma had failed to consider evidence before him, including the findings of the Ginwala Inquiry into the conduct of then-national director of public prosecutions Pikoli and the findings of a public service commission report when appointing Simelane, rendering the president’s decision “irrational”.

Simelane, in his capacity as justice director general was, according to the ruling, “intimately involved” in a dispute over the proper role of the then-national director of public prosecutions, Pikoli, and the powers and duties of the justice minister.

Pikoli was suspended by Mbeki in September 2007 after pursuing corruption charges against Selebi. On October 3, Mbeki instituted a commission of inquiry, chaired by former speaker of Parliament Frene Ginwala, into Pikoli’s fitness to hold office.

Simelane had presented the government’s evidence, under oath, at the commission. Ginwala subsequently criticised, “with some severity”, Simelane’s approach to giving evidence and its credibility.

The Bar, in its amended charges, argued that Simelane failed to disclose correspondence between the president and the minister, and the minister and Pikoli, which provided evidence that the minister sought to interfere in the prosecutorial independence of the NPA.

This included the letter drafted by Simelane, from the minister to Pikoli.

It also argued that the documents and facts were relevant to Pikoli’s suspension, which Simelane conceded under oath, but failed to include them in government’s submission to the inquiry.

The Bar also charged that he denied obtaining a written legal opinion on his interpretation, as opposed to Pikoli’s interpretation relating to the director general’s powers, and only admitted to it once it became apparent that Pikoli’s legal representatives were in possession of the opinion – which contradicted his own views.

– Online comments on stories relating to this hearing have been disabled, as per an order by the disciplinary inquiry in which media houses were granted access to the hearing.