Former Investigating Directorate boss Hermione Cronje, one of six candidates to take over as National Director of Public Prosecutions, told the interviewing panel that former national directorMenzi Simelaneis largely to blame for some of the troubles at the National Prosecuting Authority. A seven-member panel, chaired by justice & constitutional development minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, on Thursday concluded interviews for a replacement for Shamila Batohi, whose term as National Director of Public Prosecutions in the NPA expires at the end of January 2026. The NPA has been criticised for poor conviction and prosecution rates in corruption cases resulting from the state capture commission.
The commission, which was chaired by retired chief justice Raymond Zondo, was released three years ago and cost the state almost R1bn. Cronje said Simelane and his deputy, Nomgcobo Jiba, had fuelled divisions within the NPA by seeking to influence the appointment of junior staff at the Asset Forfeiture Unit who would be loyal to them rather than unit head Willie Hofmeyr. Cronje described the recruitment as “capture” within the NPA and said the people who were hired lacked the necessary skills.
She said NPA staff felt pressured to choose between Simelane, whose appointment by former president Jacob Zuma in 2009 was overturned by the Constitutional Court in 2012 on procedural flaws, and Hofmeyr. Simelane, who is also seeking to head the NPA anew, told the panel his involvement was triggered by complaints from staff of racism in the unit because most of its staff was white. When asked whether she was exaggerating, Cronje said she wanted to draw attention to the issue because no one was listening.
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She believes it was a core issue affecting the NPA’s performance. She described the years from 2009 to 2010 as “stressful being in the NPA” and this was during the disbandment of the Directorate of Special Operations (Scorpions). In 2011,she left the NPAfor academic development and returned in 2019 to head up the Investigating Directorate but then left for personal reasons and frustration as her plans were not aligning with NPA management.
She said she had to make space for Batohi to appoint an ID head aligned with her vision. Cronje has left the NPA twice and was asked whether she would leave again after being appointed to the top position. She replied that she would not stay if the state would not support her vision financially, rendering her leadership ineffective.
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