In the dying days of his presidency, Jacob Zuma signed off on a multitude of appointments at the NPA, which were all swiftly undone by Cyril Ramaphosa.

Now the Constitutional Court is being asked to adjudicate which of the two Presidents acted unlawfully.

Ron Mncwabe and Khulekani Mathenjwa were appointed Directors of Public Prosecutions in North West and Mpumalanga respectively, a week before Zuma left office. Records show he signed a presidential minute on their appointments on 7 February 2018. He resigned seven days later ... without announcing the appointments. 

The Daily Maverick reports that when Ramaphosa took office, he was suspicious of the timing of the appointments and halted them and three others Zuma had signed off on.

Now, the Constitutional Court is being asked to adjudicate on which of the two Presidents acted unlawfully: Zuma for making the appointments; or Ramaphosa for cancelling them.

At the heart of the case is the question of when a presidential order becomes final.

Mncwabe and Mathenjwa claim it is when the President signs a presidential minute, while Ramaphosa argues it’s when the decision is publicly communicated. Mncwabe and Mathenjwa have applied for their cases to be heard by the Constitutional Court after their cases were dismissed at the High Court and the SCA.

They question the constitutionality and rationale of Ramaphosa’s decision to remove them.

In his founding affidavit, Mncwabe said the High Court judge who dismissed his initial application erred in his finding by insisting that the appointment should have been publicly communicated to make it effective.

‘It is submitted that it is a matter of unusual public importance that warrants the attention of the court, insofar as it concerns the appointment by the President of one of the most senior prosecuting officers in SA,’ Mncwabe said in his founding affidavit.

Full Daily Maverick report