President has faith in Batohi

ON THE surface, newly appointed NPA head Shamila Batohi will not have to deal with the level of political interference that saw former head Mxolisi Nxasana hand in his resignation.

Nxasana’s lawyer told the Constitutional Court her client vacated his position because he was “facing a commission of inquiry, high court litigation and a campaign against him where the police were sent to find dirt on him” because he put the NPA and the country first.

When Nxasana was ousted it appeared the crisis at the NPA had reached rock bottom but worse was to come.

Now that Ramaphosa has promised an independent and impartial NPA, we have to wait a few months to see how Batohi deals with a dysfunctional prosecuting authority and a backlog of cases involving the investigation of corruption in the country.

There are also the issues of tackling state capture, the extradition of the Gupta family, and dealing with former president Jacob Zuma’s application for a stay of prosecution regarding his corruption charges.

On Tuesday, Ramaphosa quoted the Constitutional Court findings on the retirement of Nxasana and on the appointment of Shaun Abrahams: “The rule of law dictates that the office of the NDPP be cleansed of all the ills that have plagued it for the past few years.”

Clearly, in Batohi, the president believes he has found the right person to turn around a dysfunctional prosecuting authority.