Batohi takes aim at state capturers
Top legal eagle vows to clean up rot at NPA
Newly appointed National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi says the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) under her leadership will be underpinned by strong governance principles and independence. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the appointment of Batohi yesterday following a selection process that involved an advisory panel interviewing 11 candidates for the post. Batohi is the first woman to lead the prosecuting authority in the permanent position of NDPP. Not a single NDPP has managed to complete their nonrenewable 10-year term at the NPA.
Batohi is a former director of public prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal and senior legal adviser at the International Criminal Court (ICC). During her interview for the position, she likened taking up the NDPP position to “jumping into a shark tank”.
It will be the job of the new NDPP to clean up the NPA, which has in the past been hamstrung by political interference and marred in controversy around the independence of the position of the top prosecutor.
Batohi is a career prosecutor with international experience, who previously spent 15 years at the NPA before joining the ICC in The Hague in 2009.
She has not been within the institution for the last decade and so is not embroiled in factional fights raging inside the NPA, identified by prosecutors during the NDPP interview processes. “Enough has been said elsewhere on crisis and divisions within the NPA... these elements within and without who insisted on frustrating the ends of justice and ultimately the nation will not be tolerated,” Batohi said, following the announcement of her appointment. “We in the NPA have important work to do, which includes devoting our efforts to holding accountable those who have corrupted our institutions, who have betrayed the public good and the values of our constitution for private gain. Especially those in the most privileged positions in government and corporate power.” She said it was non-negotiable that the country had absolute confidence in the work of a credible NPA.
It would not be easy and there was a lot of work to do, Batohi said. Ramaphosa had until December 19 to appoint a replacement for ousted NDPP Shaun Abrahams, whose appointment was declared invalid by the Constitutional Court. The president said during this time, as SA worked on addressing issues such as state capture, corruption and widespread crime, the country needed an NPA that was above reproach.
“The NDPP must ensure that the National Prosecuting Authority exercises its functions without fear, favour or prejudice and should not be beholden to any vested interests, whether in politics, in business or elsewhere,” Ramaphosa said. Ramaphosa said he was confident that Batohi possessed all the attributes of a capable NDPP.
During his first State of the Nation Address in February, the president said one of his priorities would be dealing with the NPA’s leadership issues to ensure it was “stabilised and able to perform its mandate unhindered”.
The NPA’s deputy head, Nomgcobo Jiba, who was seen as one of former president Jacob Zuma’s closest allies in the prosecuting authority, is currently on suspension and will be facing an inquiry into her fitness to hold office.