Advocate Gerrie Nel will head civil rights group AfriForum’s private prosecuting unit from February 1 following his resignation from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Monday.

Nel revealed that he was concerned about the NPA’s perceived tendency for “selective prosecutions”, prompting him to accept the position at AfriForum.

“I believe in the supreme authority of the law. AfriForum’s newly founded private prosecuting unit gives me the opportunity within civilian society to help ensure that everyone, irrespective of position, is equal before the law. AfriForum and I are now in a position to prosecute, ourselves, corrupt persons who are not prosecuted by the NPA,” he said.

National legislation makes private prosecution possible in cases where the NPA decides to not prosecute someone suspected of an offence.

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said Nel’s appointment was a significant step ahead in the group’s battle against corruption.

Kriel said he hoped that Nel’s appointment would make clear to corrupt politicians and officials that they could no longer be indemnified from prosecution.

“Corrupt persons must realise that no-one is above the law, not even the country’s President,” said Kriel.

Nel will now begin a process to involve other experts in AfriForum’s private prosecution unit, to ensure that AfriForum is able to intervene “where the system of criminal law neglects to let justice prevail”.

According to Nel, he will start with an investigation to determine the public officials against whom there is a strong case but who are not being prosecuted.

Kriel pointed out that even though it was expensive to prosecute privately, Nel’s appointment at AfriForum meant that private prosecution was “no longer an unobtainable dream”.