By Simon Nare
Former president Thabo Mbeki has denied that his administration suppressed investigations and prosecutions of apartheid-era crimes, saying he respected the independence of prosecuting authorities and did not interfere in cases referred by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
Testifying at the TRC cases inquiry on Monday, Mbeki denied that his administration had adopted a policy to suppress cases referred to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for investigation and prosecution.
“I deny the allegations that my administration adopted a policy to suppress the investigation and prosecution of the cases referred to the NPA by the TRC, as well as any other TRC cases, or made any attempts to interfere with the investigation and prosecution of such TRC cases.
“Throughout my tenure as president, I consistently affirmed prosecutorial independence and rejected impunity for apartheid-era crimes,” Mbeki said.
He said he had previously explained why, as a matter of constitutional
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