National Prosecuting Authority

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act No. 108 of 1996), created a single National Prosecution Authority (NPA), which is governed by the National Prosecuting Authority Act (Act No. 32 of 1998). The Constitution, read with this Act, provides the NPA with the power to institute criminal proceedings on behalf of the State, to carry out any necessary functions incidental to institution of criminal proceedings and to discontinue criminal proceedings. The NPA is accountable to Parliament, while the final responsibility over the prosecuting authority lies with the Minister of Justice.

Structure

On a national level, the NPA is headed by the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP). The NDPP is appointed by the President of South Africa for a term of 10 years.

The NDPP is supported by a chief executive officer, a position which was filled by Marion Sparg from 2000 to 2007, and by four Deputy National Directors. Every seat of the High Court of South Africa is served by a Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who acts as the prosecution authority for such Court's jurisdictional area. Further support comes from Special Directors and Investigating Directors.

Gerrie Nel

Gerhard C. "Gerrie" Nel (/ˈxɛriː ˈnɛl/, born 1961) is a South African advocate and prosecutor for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of South Africa. He is nicknamed "Bulldog" for his tenacity in the courtroom, and is regularly assigned to difficult and high-profile cases.

Education and legal career

Nel matriculated from Hoërskool Piet Potgieter in Potgietersrus in the Limpopo province in 1979, and studied law in Pretoria.

Nel started working as a prosecutor in 1984. He was a junior prosecutor in the trial of Clive Derby-Lewis and Janusz Waluś, who were both convicted in connection with the assassination of anti-apartheid activist Chris Hani in 1993. He was the Gauteng Regional Head of the NPA's Directorate of Special Operations (Scorpions) business unit from its inception in 1999 until it was disbanded in 2009.

Nel led the prosecution in the trial of former national police commissioner and Interpol president Jackie Selebi, who was convicted of corruption in 2010. In 2012 he received two awards in recognition of his work on the Selebi case. He was named Prosecutor of the Year by the local Society of State Advocates and received a Special Achievement Award from the International Association of Prosecutors for "fierce pursuit of the vision of the National Prosecuting Authority's ideals to achieve justice in society".

South Africa

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost sovereign state in Africa. It is bounded on the south by 2,798 kilometers of coastline of southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, on the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, and on the east by Mozambique and Swaziland, and surrounding the kingdom of Lesotho. South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area, and with close to 53 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere.

South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a wide variety of cultures, languages, and religions. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the constitution's recognition of 11 official languages, which is among the highest number of any country in the world. Two of these languages are of European origin: Afrikaans developed from Dutch and serves as the first language of most white and coloured South Africans; English reflects the legacy of British colonialism, and is commonly used in public and commercial life, though it is fourth-ranked as a spoken first language.