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Mpshe concedes 2005 prosecution guidelines were unconstitutional

Published

Former Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe told the TRC Cases Inquiry in Johannesburg that Anton Ackermann was right about the guidelines. Mpshe made the concession under cross-examination on his earlier evidence.

The 2005 guidelines of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) widened the criteria for prosecuting apartheid-era human rights abusers. Ackermann, head of the Priority Crimes Litigation Unit, argued that they were unconstitutional. He also said they amounted to a back door amnesty for people who had not applied to the original Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Mpshe relieved Ackermann of his role soon after his appointment in September 2007. Mpshe said he did this to protect Ackermann from stakeholders who did not want him to head the unit.

Mpshe said: "When I went through them myself then I realised that he may have had some merit on his attitude towards the guidelines".

Key facts

Who
Mokotedi Mpshe (Former Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP); witness being…); Anton Ackermann (Head of the Priority Crimes Litigation Unit); Eugene de Kock (Referenced in related video; blames NPA for failure to prosecute)
What
While being cross-examined at the TRC Cases Inquiry in Johannesburg on his earlier evidence, Mpshe conceded that the 2005 guidelines, which expanded criteria for prosecuting apartheid-era human rights abusers, were unconstitutional, as Ackermann had argued. Mpshe had earlier relieved Ackermann of his role soon after Ackermann's appointment in September 2007.
When
29 October 2026
Where
Johannesburg
Status
Reported

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