Outgoing national director of public prosecutions (NDPP)Shamila Batohi’stestimony at the Nkabinde inquiry has cast a shadow over her seven-year tenure and suggests she was too quick to delegate to her subordinates during her leadership of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The NPA head stunned many people when shewalked out of the inquiryinvestigating the fitness of South Gauteng director of public prosecutionsAndrew Chauketo hold office. Batohi, who asked for the process herself, hasalleged that Chauke mishandled the caseand went after former KwaZulu-Natal head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks)Johan Booysenand the Cato Manor specialised police unit despite there being no evidence of racketeering and acted outside his jurisdiction.
Chauke’s counsel, advocateTembeka Ngcukaitobiargued thatBatohi never read the case docketswhich informed the charges nor reviewed the evidence brought to her attention by a police inspector. Batohi’s testimony highlighted how one of her central challenges during her term was her reliance on subordinates to manage prosecutorial cases, said Jean Redpath, a senior researcher at the University of the Western Cape. Batohi testified at the inquiry that she had set up a panel to investigate the allegations against Booysen and expected her deputy to review video evidence sent to her since he was copied in the emails.
“One of the key problems for her is that she delegated much of the work to [then deputy NDPP Rodney] De Kock and he has since died,” Redpath said. She said the NPA should also have anticipated the tough line of questioning pursued by Ngcukaitobi at the inquiry and that the terms of reference regarding fitness to hold office opened the door to broader questions about capacity and leadership within the authority. Redpath said she was dismayed by what she described as the NPA’s “pedestrian approach” at the start of the inquiry, arguing that the institution had failed to prove its case against Chauke.
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“They should have done a thorough review of the South Gauteng prosecuting office. The record is worse at the commercial crimes court,” she said. Ngcukaitobi argued that Batohi had forfeited her right to testify by walking out of this week’s proceedings and his team would make an application for her testimony to be struck off.
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