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{{Short description|South African advocate (born 1958)}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
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| image = Vusi Pikoli 2014.JPG
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| caption = Pikoli (2014)
| order =
| office = [[National Prosecuting Authority|Director of National Prosecuting Authority]]
| term_start = 2005
| term_end = 2007
| president = [[Thabo Mbeki]]
| predecessor = [[Bulelani Ngcuka]]
| successor = Mokotedi Mpshe (acting)
| pronunciation =
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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1958|03|29|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Port Elizabeth]]
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| spouse = [[Nozuko Majola-Pikoli]]
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| alma_mater = {{plainlist|
* [[National University of Lesotho]]
* [[University of Zimbabwe]]}}
| children = [[Zukiswa Pikoli]] [[Phumlani Pikoli]] [[Lisolomzi Pikoli]]
}}
'''Vusumzi "Vusi" Pikoli''' (born 29 March 1958 in [[Port Elizabeth]]) is a South African [[advocate]] and the former head of South Africa's [[National Prosecuting Authority]]. He is noted for instigating criminal charges against disgraced [[South African Police Service|South African police commissioner]] [[Jackie Selebi]] and [[African National Congress|ANC]] president [[Jacob Zuma]]. In 2008 he was suspended from his duties by President [[Thabo Mbeki]], a close confidant of Selebi, and then subsequently fired by Mbeki's successor, [[Kgalema Motlanthe]], who is an ally of Zuma. As such, opposition parties and sections of the press have claimed Pikoli is the victim of two separate political conspiracies. In October 2014 Pikoli was appointed as the [[Western Cape]]'s first police ombudsman by Premier [[Helen Zille]], whose choice was unanimously backed by the provincial legislature's standing committee on community safety.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/pikoli-is-cape-s-first-police-ombudsman-1.1771006|title = Pikoli is Cape's first police ombudsman}}</ref>

==Education==
Pikoli attended St John's College in [[Mthatha]], enrolled for [[Bachelor of Laws]] degree in 1976 at [[Fort Hare University]]<ref>[https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-11-17-posthumous-honour-of-bravery-for-sizwe-kondile-one-of-south-africas-forgotten-heroes/ Posthumous honour for Sizwe Kondile], ''Daily Maverick'', 17 November 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2025</ref> and later obtained two [[Bachelor of Laws| law degrees]] from the [[National University of Lesotho]] and a MA in law from the [[University of Zimbabwe]] in 1988.

As a student he was an active member of the [[African National Congress|ANC's]] youth movement, and received military training in [[Angola]] as a member of [[uMkhonto we Sizwe]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=2197|title=Advocate Vusumzi "Vusi" Pikoli}}</ref>

==Early career==
Between 1991 and 1994 he worked in the private legal profession, but became Special Advisor to the Minister of Justice in 1994. He served in that capacity until 1997, when he became Deputy Director-General (Human Resources) in the Department of Justice & Constitutional Development. In 1999 he became Director-General in the same department, a position he held for six years.

==National Director of Public Prosecutions==
In 2005 he was appointed to head up the [[National Prosecuting Authority]] as the National Director of Public Prosecutions.

On 24 September 2007 President Thabo Mbeki suspended Pikoli in terms of Section 12(6)(a) of the National Prosecution Act 32 of 1998, citing an "irretrievable break down in the working relationship between the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and the NDPP."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_South%20Africa&set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20070924144355971C413764|title=Mbeki suspends NDPP's Vusi Pikoli|publisher=iol|date=24 September 2007|access-date=11 January 2008}}</ref> Three days later the [[South African Broadcasting Corporation]] claimed that a warrant was issued on 10 September by the NPA for the arrest of the head of the [[South African Police]] and [[Interpol]], [[Jackie Selebi]] – a close confidant of Mbeki. According to SABC the warrant was secured by Pikoli, before Pikoli was suspended by the country's President Mbeki.<ref>{{cite news
|author = News24
|title = 'Deafening' silence on Selebi
|url = http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2192311,00.html
|publisher = News24
|date = 28 September 2007
|access-date = 3 October 2007
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071203111217/http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2192311,00.html
|archive-date = 3 December 2007
|url-status = dead
|df = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
|author=BBC News
|title=SA's top policeman 'not arrested'
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7017029.stm
|publisher=BBC News
|date=27 September 2007
|access-date=27 September 2007}}</ref> Journalists at the ''[[Mail & Guardian]]'' subsequently provided supporting evidence to the claim that Mbeki had suspended Pikoli as part of a bid to shield Police Commissioner Selebi.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=321113&area=/insight/insight__national| title=The desperate bid to shield Selebi| publisher=Mail & Guardian| date=5 October 2007| access-date=11 January 2008}}</ref> The leader of South Africa's opposition [[Democratic Alliance (South Africa)|Democratic Alliance party]], [[Helen Zille]], said that the suspension of Pikoli was a "serious development" that needed further explanation: "The country needs to know why Pikoli has been suspended."<ref>{{cite news
|author=Jonathan Clayton
|title=Heads roll in bitter ANC turf war
|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article2532586.ece
|work=The Times
|date=27 September 2007
|access-date=11 January 2008 | location=London}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Human Sciences Research Council political commentator [[Adam Habib]] said:<ref>{{cite news
|title=Rumours swirl over Pikoli's suspension
|url=http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=320606&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national
|publisher=Mail & Guardian
|date=30 September 2007
|access-date=11 January 2008}}</ref>
<blockquote>If the president suspended Mr Pikoli on the grounds that he had issued a warrant for the commissioner's arrest, then it suggests that an invasion is being made into an independent institution's operations. Intervening in the operations of the National Prosecuting Authority constitutes a violation of our Constitution.</blockquote>

After [[South African presidential election, 2008|Mbeki's resignation]] from the presidency, his successor [[Kgalema Motlanthe]] fired Pikoli. Opposition leader Helen Zille pointed out that even though Motlanthe is a close supporter of Mbeki's political rival [[Jacob Zuma]], Motlanthe had his own reasons for distrusting Pikoli. In particular she claimed that Pikoli's efforts to charge Zuma with corruption made him a target for Motlanthe, and that Pikoli had been both suspended and fired for political reasons.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=112174&sn=Detail|title=Motlanthe trying to protect Zuma – Zille}}</ref>

Pikoli's dismissal would have to be ratified by Parliament. The proceedings got off to a shaky start when the co-chairperson of the ad hoc parliamentary committee dealing with the matter, [[Oupa Monareng]], was revealed to have been convicted of criminal charges in the mid-1990s.

On 11 August 2009 Pikoli was granted an interim interdict by the High Court in [[Pretoria]], which prevents Zuma from appointing a successor to the position. This was until the application could be heard by the same court in November.<ref>[http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-08-11-zuma-says-he-respects-pikoli-judgement Zuma says he respects Pikoli judgement] ''M&G''</ref>

On 21 November 2009 the government reached a [[South African rand|R]]7.5 million out-of-court settlement with Pikoli to stop his legal bid for reinstatement.<ref>{{Cite web
|title=Government and Advocate Vusi Pikoli reach out of court settlement
|url=http://www.info.gov.za/speeches/2009/09112310051002.htm
|publisher=South African government
|date=21 November 2009
|access-date=29 November 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news
|last=Maughan
|first=Karyn
|title=Does R7,5m pave the way for Pikoli's new job?
|url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20091123040953265C414512
|newspaper=[[The Star (South Africa)|The Star]]
|date=23 November 2009
|page=2
|access-date=29 November 2009}}</ref>

==Subsequent career==
From 2012 to 2014 Pikoli served as a commissioner of the [[Khayelitsha Commission]], which investigated the crime and policing situation in [[Khayelitsha]] and from 2014 to 2018 as the Western Cape Police Ombudsman western cape provincial govt police-ombudsman. In 2019 he was appointed as the Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at South African Airways.<ref>https://newsroom.aviator.aero/south-african-airways-appoints-advocate-vusi-pikoli-to-its-leadership-team-to-head-risk-and-compliance/</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pikoli, Vusi}}
[[Category:1958 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:National University of Lesotho alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century South African lawyers]]
[[Category:University of Zimbabwe alumni]]
[[Category:21st-century South African lawyers]]
[[Category:South African prosecutors]]

Vusi Pikoli - Revision history

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