SUMMARY: Appointment of National Director of Public Prosecutions in terms of s 179 of the Constitution read with sections 9 and 10 of the National Prosecuting Authority Act 32 of 1998 ─ purpose of empowering provisions is to safeguard prosecutorial independence ─ requirement that candidate for position must be a fit and proper person with due regard to his or her experience, conscientiousness and integrity and must, having regard to the importance of the office be properly scrutinised by the President of the Republic of South Africa who has the power to make the appointment ─ qualities required of candidate are jurisdictional facts that must exist before an appointment can be made ─ have to be objectively assessed ─ importance of prosecutorial independence discussed with reference to constitutional scheme and comparable jurisdictions.