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South Africa Alert 22 January 2010 New NPA director censor prosecutors The new national director of public prosecutions, Menzi Simelani has gagged the prosecutors from engaging with the media without authorisation. A spokesperson from the directors’ office Bulelwa Makeke confirmed that “ It comes from the head of institute, he wants us to have more control over what gets communicated and how it gets communicated”. Makeke said the directive was relayed in an internal document and was effective “immediately as an amendment to our current media policy”. She further says NPA has heard many cases as a result of prosecutors talking to the press and was surprised the policy change was attracting criticism. Simelani, a former director general of justice, became head of NPA in December 2009, a year after Vusi Pikoli was fired from the post. Democratic Alliance (DA) justice spokesperson Dene Smuts said the new media policy was a mistake. “Just as it was hard to imagine a more inappropriate choice for National Director of Public Prosecutions (NPPA) than Mr Simelani it is difficult to think of a more unfortunate public relations approach than that he has now taken, given the widespread view that he tried to turn the NPA into an instrument of government while he was Director General and that he will continue do so as NDPP. It is good for open justice and authoritative reporting that prosecutors talk to reporters,” Smuts said. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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