Corruption Watch v President
Corruption Watch NPC and Others v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others; Nxasana v Corruption Watch NPC and Others is a 2018 decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa on prosecutorial independence. In a judgment written by Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, the court affirmed unanimously that section 179(4) of the Constitution provided for the independence of the National Prosecuting Authority. It therefore held that sections of the National Prosecuting Authority Act, 1998 were unconstitutional insofar as they granted the President discretion over certain aspects of senior prosecutors' terms of employment, thereby compromising prosecutorial independence. The matter arose from a public scandal surrounding the 2015 departure of Mxolisi Nxasana from the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions in exchange for a substantial golden handshake. The court was also called to adjudicate the constitutionality of the underlying settlement agreement, which it invalidated on the grounds that such arrangements could compromise prosecutorial independence.