Pistorius prosecutor Gerrie Nel quits
The prosecuting authority's 'bulldog' has reportedly had enough and will be joining AfriForum to pioneer private prosecutions in SA.
FILE PICTURE: Prosecutor Gerrie Nel reacts as judgment is handed down in the murder trial of paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius at the High Court in Pretoria on Friday, 12 September 2014. Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide for the Valentine’s Day shooting last year of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Picture: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters/Pool
News24 is reporting that well-known state prosecutor Gerrie Nel has given the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) a day’s notice of his resignation.
EWN, meanwhile, has reported that he will be joining lobby group AfriForum to set up a private prosecutions unit.
He has resigned five years away from his retirement after 35 years’ service to the state, including having been the Gauteng head of the Scorpions before they were disbanded.
ALSO READ: Twitter roasts Gerrie Nel for joining AfriForum
He was awarded for his successful prosecution of former police commissioner the late Jackie Selebi. He is, however, best known for his uncompromising approach in ultimately having Paralympian Oscar Pistorius convicted for murder after the celebrity sportsman shot and killed his girlfriend through a locked toilet door at his home.
The reasons for his resignation are no yet clear, though Nel has had a tumultuous career at the NPA, among other things having been targeted unfairly by one of his superiors, Nomgcobo Jiba, who is now attempting to appeal a decision to have her struck from the roll of advocates.
The NPA has also been embroiled in numerous controversies over the past decade, with the most recent being an apparent agenda to rush the arrest and prosecution of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, while doing everything in its power to avoid pursuing 783 charges of corruption against President Jacob Zuma.
