The man who put Oscar behind bars quits the NPA for AfriForum

Words by Nic Andersen

Gerrie Nel garnered hundreds of memes and affectionate posts during his battles with Oscar’s lawyer Barry Roux; and while Roux was “putting it to you” Nel was living up to his status as “the Bulldog” of the South African legal system.

Now news has broken that Gerrie Nel has resigned from the NPA in order to join AfriForum and set up a “private prosecutions unit.” Aside from the Oscar trial Nel led “Operation Bad guys.” The operation carried out the investigation and prosecution of both Jacki Selebi and the murderer of mining boss, Brett Kebble. The resignation comes as a massive shock to seemingly all South Africans, Nel has only given the NPA 24hours notice.

While we may be shocked, one has to remember the other side of Nel’s history at the NPA. For years “the Bulldog” has been sidelined at the NPA. With things even getting so bad that he was arrested on trumped-up charges in 2008.  AfriForum, Nel’s new employer is best known as “a non- profit company, with the aim of protecting minorities.” Their previous commitments have seen them take legal action against Eskom to stop them cutting power to five municipalities that were not paid up. The group is also known for attempting to block the University of Free State from removing Afrikaans as a medium of instruction.

One thing is for certain, all of us South Africans will admit that today our National Prosecuting Authority has been severely weakened. Hopefully in the future we all get to see a Gerrie Nel vs Barry Roux legal face off, one more time, please.