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PROFILE: Gerrie Nel – a prosecutor with the ‘golden touch’

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He is an artist in presenting evidence, say those who know the man set to prosecute paralympian and murder-accused Oscar Pistorius.

Gerrie Nel has built up a reputation not only for his skill and dedication but also his determination.

“Everything he touches turns to gold,” said former National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga.

“He is one prosecutor whose prosecutorial expertise, conviction and integrity is beyond reproach,” said Mhaga.

High-profile cases like the Pistorius murder trial are nothing new for Nel, who will try and prove that the paralympian shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in cold blood when the trial starts on March 3.

A career prosecutor with more than 30 years of experience, Nel is a familiar name in South African law for taking on big cases, including that of former national police commissioner and Interpol president Jackie Selebi.

Mhaga said Nel was very modest when it came to acknowledging his own achievements.

“He is… a prosecutor who, during my interaction with him, displayed a character of skilful prosecuting, a brilliant art of presenting evidence and one who is very patient with the witness. I’ve known him to be a very dedicated prosecutor and a very resourceful prosecutor,” said Mhaga.

Nel is no stranger to pressure and intimidation. During the Selebi trial, he was arrested at his home in the early hours of January 8, 2008, in what appeared to be a bid to disrupt the investigation against the former top cop.

Taken into custody by 20 police officers in front of his wife and children, the alleged fraud charges were later dropped. Two years later, he secured a corruption conviction against Selebi who was jailed for 15 years in the High Court in Johannesburg in 2010.

Another top cop under investigation, suspended police crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli, last year accused Nel of conspiring with others to kill him.

Mdluli himself is facing fraud charges. But the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) had only good things to say about Nel.
He received a special achievement award from the IAP for his “fierce pursuit of the vision of the National Prosecuting Authority’s ideals to achieve justice in society”.

The IAP was full of praise for Nel’s gutsy achievements. “It bears mentioning that the IAP is proud to have recognised the exceptional qualities of integrity, independence and perseverance that advocate Nel has displayed in the past,” it said.

“It is hardly surprising that the NPA has chosen advocate Nel to lead the prosecution in another reportedly sensitive and difficult matter that would seem to require a prosecutor such as one with advocate Nel’s track record.”

Nel also enjoys some measure of celebrity status on social networking sites like Twitter, particularly after Pistorius’ bail application in February last year. At the time, a picture circulated on Twitter with a photo of Nel and the words “Keep calm and trust in Gerrie Nel” written underneath.

User galamolabi tweeted on February 22: “And I can’t wait for Oscar to be cross examined. Gerrie Nel is a very smart and calculating lawyer.”

There is no possible information to support his version that it was a burglar

Another user sanzanombembe tweeted on June 2: “My friend said Oscar has the best lawyers in SA, 1 is my dad!! I said clearly ur dad doesn’t know Gerrie Nel…”

On December 4, Sentletse tweeted: “Gerrie Nel restored some confidence in the NPA when he went head-to-head against Roux in the Pistorius case.”

Pistorius will go on trial on March 3, on a charge of pre-meditated murder after he shot his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year.

Law-graduate Steenkamp was shot dead in Pistorius’ Pretoria home. At his bail hearing last year, Pistorius submitted that he thought Steenkamp was an intruder. But, Nel convinced the court to prosecute him for premeditated murder.

“There is no possible information to support his version that it was a burglar,” said Nel. “She couldn’t go anywhere. You can run nowhere… It must have been horrific.” There is no doubting Nel’s mission in these words.

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