The North Gauteng High court has ruled that Mxolisi Nxasana's dismissal as head of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions was unlawful.
It thus ruled that Shaun Abrahams appointment as National Director of Public Prosecutions is therefore unlawful and invalid and must be set aside.
Judge Dunstan Mlambo ruled that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa must appoint a new NDPP within 60 days.
He further ruled it would not be just for Nxasana to be reinstated and that due to his pending corruption case, President Jacob Zuma was conflicted in appointing a National Director of Public Prosecutions.
Freedom Under Law, Corruption Watch and the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac) had gone to court seeking an order declaring Nxasana's removal invalid.
Casac's Lawson Naidoo said they welcome the judgment.
"It's a vindication of the position that we took and in particular the order that should Nxasana not be reinstated that the new National Director of Public Prosecutions should not be appointed by the President but the Deputy President. The President, seeing that he is facing 783 counts of fraud, corruption and racketeering, is deeply conflicted and cannot make any decisions regarding the National Director of Public Prosecutions," he said.
The African National Congress said it "noted the judgment of the North Gauteng High Court in relation to the appointment of the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP)."
"The ANC will allow the parties involved to reflect on the judgment and its implications as well as decide whether to appeal or not. As the ANC, we trust that whatever decision taken will be in the interest of the administration of justice, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the country as whole."
