National Director of Public Prosecutions advocate Shamila Batohi’s concessions undermine the NPA’s legitimacy and may weaken voluntary compliance with the law, a legal expert says. Picture: Gallo Images Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi is expected to continue his grilling of outgoing prosecutions boss, advocate Shamila Batohi, on her “poisoned” and “irresponsible” basis for the charge against Johannesburg prosecutions boss Andrew Chauke, when the inquiry into his fitness to hold office resumes on Wednesday. On Monday, Ngcukaitobi, Chauke’s lawyer, took her to task, cornering her into making a series of striking admissions under cross-examination about her handling of key decisions that led to Chauke’s suspension.
The inquiry is focusing is on two contentious matters; the racketeering charges authorised against former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head MajorGeneral Johan Booysen and members of the Cato Manor Unit, and the withdrawal of murder charges against former crime intelligence boss Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli. In a notable concession, Batohi confirmed she did not read the case docket relating to the racketeering allegations against Booysen before concluding there was no evidence to sustain the charges. Instead, she told the inquiry she relied on a memorandum prepared by her deputy, Rodney de Kock, and reports from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in KwaZulu-Natal.
She also conceded that some of the charges levelled against Chauke were incorrect and admitted that wording in at least one charge was wrong, rendering President Cyril Ramaphosa’s terms of reference erroneous. These concessions have raised questions about her integrity and capacity to discharge her duties diligently, with criminologist Prof Kholofelo Rakubu warning that Batohi’s admissions risked further eroding public trust in an institution widely viewed as struggling to deliver justice in politically sensitive matters. She said Batohi’s concessions highlight systemic weaknesses rather than isolated misjudgments, noting that institutional trust depended on public perceptions of fairness and competence.
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Rakubu said that when the country’s top prosecutor admits to taking decisions without personally reviewing the underlying evidence, it undermined the NPA’s legitimacy and may weaken voluntary compliance with the law. “Batohi’s admissions reinforce perceptions of institutional weakness and raise questions about prosecutorial integrity.
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