Indian-origin woman appointed head of SA’s prosecuting power

Prominent Indianorigin lawyer Shamila Batohi has been appointed as the head of South Africa’s prosecuting authority.

Batohi is the first woman to head the agency, which is facing criticism for its handling of the investigations against former president Jacob Zuma over corruption charges. She will start her new role as the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) in February 2019.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the appointment of Batohi during a nationally-televised address at the government headquarters, the Union Buildings, on Tuesday.

During his maiden address, Ramaphosa gave the commitment that government would urgently attend to the leadership crisis at the NPA to ensure the institution performs its mandate without outside interference. Eleven months later, the prosecuting body now has a new head.

Batohi, who shot to fame as the evidence leader during the King Commission that probed the Hansie Cronje match-fixing saga, was selected from a shortlist of 11 candidates who were interviewed for the high-profile position.

She will replace the previous prosecutor, Shaun Abrahams who has been accused by the opposition and rights groups of shielding former president Jacob Zuma from corruption charges during his nine years in office.

Batohi is stepping into a position that has proved to be so poisoned by politics that none of its appointees has come even close to surviving the full ten-year term, local media reports said.

She started her public service as a junior prosecutor in the Chatsworthmagistrates’courtin 1986 and steadily rose through the ranks to become the director of public prosecutions in KwaZulu Natal. Batohi has worked for the past nine years as a legal adviser to the prosecutor in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

JOHANNESBURG: