Publication: Mail and Guardian
Issued:
Date: 2007-09-27
Reporter: Adriaan Basson
Reporter:
| Publication |
Mail and Guardian
|
| Date |
2007-09-27
|
|
Reporter |
Adriaan Basson |
|
Web Link |
www.mg.co.za
|
Vusi Pikoli’s acting replacement, Mokotedi (Cocky) Mpshe, is an advocate by
training whose career has been troubled by controversy -- including charges of
misconduct brought by the Pretoria Bar Council.
In 1999 Mpshe was found guilty on four charges of
misconduct and it was recommended that he
be struck from the roll of advocates. He appealed and a15-member Bar
Council over-turned the verdict in respect
of three charges.
He admitted guilt on one charge -- of failing on
four occasions to appear in court to represent clients in 1996. The other
charges related to his buying a Mercedes-Benz from a murderer he represented in
1992.
Mpshe began his legal career in 1978 as a prosecutor in the
Bophuthatswana homeland, where he later served as a magistrate. From 1989 to
1994 he lectured in law at the Northern Transvaal Technikon in Soshanguve and at
Vista University in Mamelodi.
He was admitted to the Pretoria Bar in 1992 and received senior counsel status
10 years later.
Between 1996 and 1998 Mpshe was chief leader of evidence for the truth
commission in Gauteng and handled high-profile cases, including the amnesty
application of Chris Hani’s murderers.
In 1998 he was appointed director of public prosecutions for KwaZulu-Natal,
where he was credited with having turned around the province’s prosecuting
services. His work there caught the eye of
President Thabo Mbeki *1.
However, he was perceived as being close to the ANC, and the IFP criticised his
appointment as “political” *2.
In 2002 he was appointed director of public prosecutions for the Transvaal
provincial division. He moved to the NPA in April last year, where he was
appointed deputy national director with national prosecutions services as
portfolio.
With acknowledgements to
Adriaan Basson and Mail and Guardian.
*1*2 This is in line with the
notion of a stooge.