This week marks the end of the term of office of Shamila Batohi as the national director of public prosecutions (NDPP). How should we evaluate her legacy at the helm of a troubled institution? There is much that has gone right during her tenure as the head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
For a start, Batohi came through a thorough and transparent process. During her years in office she managed to force out bad elements and remnants of state capture and made decent appointments to assist her in restoring the credibility of the NPA. As she departs, she will be remembered for being the only NDPP — the official title of her job — to have served out a term of office.
Her predecessors left with a cloud hanging over their heads and some were forced out of office. Bulelani Ngcuka, the first occupant of the office, left office after being cleared by a commission of inquiry of allegations that he was an apartheid-era spy. It was during his tenure that Tony Yengeni, then an ANC MP, went to jail for fraud.
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Ngcuka’s successors — Vusi Pikoli, Menzi Simelane, Mxolisi Nxasana and interim heads such as Mokotedi Mpshe, Nomgcobo Jiba and Shaun Abrahams — left mid-term after falling out with politicians. For much of her tenure, Batohi enjoyed good relations with President Cyril Ramaphosa — the appointing authority — and justice ministers. It was only a year ago that she butted heads with former justice minister Thembisile Simelane before the latter was moved to human settlements.
Unlike her predecessors, Batohi was allowed to do her job. She also enjoyed a lot of support and goodwill from other non-governmental stakeholders such as the private sector. Her term of office will also be remembered as an era of missed opportunities.
The biggest opportunity she squandered was to not use the political air cover she enjoyed to crack high-profile cases such as those arising from the state capture commission of inquiry. In February, the most prominent state capture case ― the one involving the looting of Transnet by its former executives ― will commence trial. Doubts linger, however, whether the NPA can successfully prosecute after bungling other cases such as the ones involving the controversial Gupta family and Timothy Omotoso, the Nigerian pastor. A week ago, this newspaper reported thatPeter Schelbert, a former Steinhoff director, would only serve five years in jail after a plea and sentencing agreement with the state in his fraud case.
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