Shamila Batohi faces pressure to clarify NPA interference claims

Outgoing National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi is facing mounting pressure to provide details of her claims that there is political interference in the work of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

In an interview this week, Batohi had said: “The NPA has been infiltrated by people who do not have the rule of law at heart.

“We are having internal challenges; some prosecutors may not be aligned with the vision of really fighting for the rule of law in this country.”

Calls for Batohi to be summoned to Parliament to provide explanations follow a difficult period for the NPA during which the authority has bungled a number of high-profile cases.

The latest was the Free State High Court declaring the extradition of former Free State premier and ex-ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule’s personal assistant, Moroadi Cholota, from the US unlawful as it did not have a valid and lawful request by the Justice Ministry.

As a result of Judge Phillip Loubser’s ruling, Cholota cannot face trial in the controversial R255 million tender to audit and replace asbestos roofs in the province alongside her former boss and several other individuals and companies.

The NPA plans to appeal against the judgment. Another recent prominent case that intensified pressure on Batohi, who is reportedly due to retire when she turns 65 in January, was the acquittal of Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso of multiple charges of rape, human trafficking, and racketeering in April.

On Friday, the EFF wrote to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza and Xola Nqola, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development, demanding an urgent parliamentary debate on Batohi’s allegations of infiltration in the NPA.

Additionally, the EFF wants the portfolio committee to schedule an urgent meeting and was not calling for punitive or reactionary action.

“This is not a casual institutional complaint. It is a constitutional red flag of the highest order. An assertion from the NDPP herself that the NPA has been infiltrated should send shockwaves throughout every organ of state,” the party said.

The EFF warned that the assertions have direct consequences for the rule of law, the integrity of South Africa’s criminal justice system, the fight against corruption and gender-based violence, and public trust in the country’s democracy.

The urgent meeting should be held on Tuesday, June 10, and also requested Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi to be invited to attend, provide policy-level responses and inform the committee of the department’s position and possible interventions on the matter, according to the EFF.

It requested Didiza to exercise her authority under the National Assembly’s rules to approve an urgent debate on “the implications of the NDPP’s public statement regarding infiltration of the NPA and the threat it poses to South Africa’s justice system, rule of law, and constitutional democracy”.

ActionSA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said the party was alarmed and called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove Batohi immediately.

He said the NPA has failed to prosecute Ramaphosa for not declaring foreign currency stolen at his Phala Phala farm in 2020, which was later stolen, fugitive self-proclaimed Malawian prophet Shepherd Bushiri, and secure the extradition of the fugitive Gupta brothers, among others.

“The NPA has become a refuge for politically connected individuals, a place where accountability is avoided, justice is delayed, and prosecutions collapse with shocking regularity. Under Batohi’s leadership, the NPA reels from one scandal to the next,” added Trollip.

ActionSA will write to Kubayi demanding urgent intervention and the commencement of a process to remove Batohi in terms of the NPA Act.

loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za