Ramaphosa appoints Adrian Mopp as Western Cape prosecutions chief

Advocate Adrian Carl Mopp will lead public prosecutions in the Western Cape from 10 September 2026, after President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed him Director of Public Prosecutions for the province.

The appointment was made under section 13(1)(a) of the National Prosecuting Authority Act, 1998 (Act No. 32 of 1998). The President acted after consulting the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Ms Mmamoloko Kubayi, and the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Andy Mothibi.

Mopp is not a new face in the province’s prosecuting service. He has served as Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape since 2009, a role that placed him inside the province’s senior prosecutorial leadership for more than a decade and a half.

Before that, he held senior positions in the Directorate of Special Operations and the Asset Forfeiture Unit, including a five-year spell as Regional Head of the Directorate of Special Operations in the Western Cape from 2004 to 2009.

His legal career spans more than 30 years. He was admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa in 1993, and has spent more than 23 years as a member of the NPA’s Senior Management Service, working at both provincial and national level.

He holds advanced qualifications in law, criminal justice, criminology and international studies, including a Master of Philosophy in Law and a Master of Laws in Criminal Justice and Criminology.

What the appointment means for the province

The Director of Public Prosecutions is the person answerable for how prosecutions are run in the province: which matters proceed, how the courts are staffed, and how the NPA’s provincial office carries out its mandate. The post sits at the point where national prosecuting policy meets the daily work of the Western Cape’s courts.

The President said Mopp’s provincial and national leadership experience had equipped him with a thorough understanding of the responsibilities attached to the position. He wished him well and said he trusted Mopp would continue to contribute to the delivery of independent, effective and efficient prosecution services.

That independence is written into the terms of the appointment itself. The NPA Act sets out a consultation process that draws in both the Justice Minister and the National Director of Public Prosecutions before the President decides, and the announcement records that this process was followed.

A career built inside the NPA

The progression from the Asset Forfeiture Unit and the Directorate of Special Operations to deputy director in the Western Cape, and now to the province’s top prosecuting post, is a career spent largely within the institution he will now lead.

The Asset Forfeiture Unit pursues the proceeds of crime, and the Directorate of Special Operations handled priority and organised crime investigations before it was disbanded. Both roles sit close to the kind of work that tests whether a prosecuting authority can act without fear or favour.

Mopp takes up the position with effect from 10 September 2026. The appointment was announced by the Presidency, and media enquiries are directed to the President’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya.

This report is based on the Presidency’s media statement, which is a summary of the appointment rather than the full record of the consultation process.

Source: South African Government (www.gov.za), President Cyril Ramaphosa appoints Director of Public Prosecutions for the Western Cape, https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/president-cyril-ramaphosa-appoints-director-public-prosecutions-western-cape