NPA investigating Gerrie Nel

National Prosecuting Authority head Shaun Abrahams ordered an investigation into Advocate Gerrie Nel and other senior prosecutors just three days before Nel resigned, says a News24 report. Abrahams asked a senior KwaZulu-Natal prosecutor to provide him with a progress report relating to a complaint lodged against Nel and three senior advocates, for bringing the administration of justice into disrepute. News24 says it has learnt that Nel was part of a complaint a Laudium businessman laid against him and the prosecutors in Pretoria. Nel resigned on Monday last week to join lobby group AfriForum as head of its private prosecutions unit. The complaint, registered on 20 December last year, relates to an allegation of tampering with evidence. The report suggests speculation is rife in the legal fraternity that Nel was under some sort of pressure in the NPA before he left, just five years before retirement, after a 36-year career. Days before Nel’s resignation, Abrahams responded to the complainant in a letter indicating he was taking the allegations seriously. Abrahams allocated the complaint to the Director of Public Prosecutions in KZN, Advocate Moipone Noko, and asked for a progress report by 24 February. Nel, asked if he was aware of the complaint against him and if this had anything to do with his resignation, replied ‘not at all’. The complainant is a businessman who has had four cases opened against him. All of them stem from a dispute he has had with a prominent family, the report states.