Advocacy group, Right2Know says Tuesday’s ruling by the High Court in Pretoria on the having the interview process for the next NPA head open to the public, strengthens openness in the country’s democracy.
The High Court ordered that the interviews for the position of head of the NPA be held in public, after, the lobby group challenged President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to hold them behind closed doors – saying the media must be allowed access to the decision making process.
The interviews of shortlisted candidates for National Director of Public Prosecutions begin on Wednesday.
Right2Know Campaign’s Dale McKinley said, “We felt that if you look at the last ten years a lot of the problems that we’ve experienced with executive appointments and with people who have been in charge with SOEs and Chapter 9 institutions, there’s been secrecy. The public hasn’t been able to be part of the process of influence. So given this case, there would be important precedent-setting things to get the courts to rule that yes the media and public should have access to these interviews and we should be able to know what’s going on, what kinds of questions are being asked and how people can perform so we can see who’s possibly the best person for the job.”
