Johannesburg – Political parties on Saturday welcomed the appointment of Mxolisi Nxasana as the new national director of public prosecutions and Vasantrai Soni as the new head the Special Investigating Unit.

The Congress of the People welcomed the appointments but said President Jacob Zuma should have made the appointments sooner because the credibility of both institutions were placed under immense pressure to remain relevant.

“We can however not condone the fact that an order by the Constitutional Court had to be the final nail in the coffin to force Zuma to stick to the constitutional obligations bestowed on his office in terms of these appointments,” spokesperson Johann Abrie said in a statement.

“It appears as if our president will remain aloof to the imperatives of the constitution which might have an impact on his dodgy accent to power, unless ordered to do otherwise by the courts of the land.”

He said Cope was not able to pass judgement on the suitability of Nxasana and Soni to satisfy the “constitutional demand” and whether they were suitable for their new positions.

The party congratulated Nxasana and Soni on their appointments.

“[Cope] wishes to see that the filling of these long overdue permanent positions will go some way to recover the unnecessary lapse of public confidence in these institutions,” Abrie said.

The National Freedom Party said Nxasana would bring a wealth of experience and knowledge of the legal background to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

“The NFP hopes that Mr Nxasana will use his skills to bring about stability and integrity in the NPA,” secretary general Nhlanhla Khubisa said in a statement.

“The NFP was worried about the previous instability that this important organisation underwent in the past.”

On Friday, Zuma announced the appointments in a statement.

“Mr Nxasana currently practises as an attorney with a wealth of experience in criminal litigation, coupled with his having occupied senior positions in the legal profession including the chairpersonship of the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society,” Zuma said at the time.

“Advocate Soni is a senior counsel with some 25 years experience and played a crucial role as chief evidence leader in the Jali Commission of Inquiry into corruption in prisons in South Africa.”

A third appointment was that of Sophy Moipone Dinah Noko, as director of public prosecutions of the jurisdictional area of the KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court.

SAPA