Former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mohamed Surty appeared before the Khampepe Commission of Inquiry on Thursday has denied involvement in interference with TRC cases.
Former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mohamed Surty, who served a brief tenure as minister from September 2008 until May 2009, has suggested that the elections and the ongoing Ginwala Commission of Inquiry probing advocate Vusi Pikoli's fitness to hold office could have played a role in the delay in prosecuting TRC cases.
On Thursday, Surty appeared before the TRC Cases Inquiry probing political interference with TRC cases, alleged by the families of the victims of apartheid-era-crimes. He indicated that, aside from a memorandum from the then Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Advocate Mokotedi Mpshe, proposing the re-establishment of the TRC Task Team, he had not engaged with any matters related to the TRC.
"Except for what is reflected in the memorandum itself, I do not recall any engagement with the NPA or SAPS concerning TRC prosecutions," he emphasised.
Furthermore, Surty, who also served in various capacities in government entities from the second democratic parliament until the fifth in 2019, indicated that while he was in office, there were no Interministerial Committee (IMC) meetings to give direction to some of the challenges that could have arisen from the delays in prosecuting TRC matters.
