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ActionSA has asked the justice minister to initiate Batohi’s removal and begin a process of investigating deep-rooted dysfunction within the NPA.
ActionSA supporters protest demanding the removal of National Prosecuting Authority head Shamila Batohi. Picture: Frennie Shivambu/Gallo Images
ActionSA members yesterday marched and protested outside the office of the minister of justice in Pretoria to demand the removal of the national director of Public Prosecution Shamila Batohi due to what it described as the growing list of failures by the NPA under her leadership.
Action SA president Herman Mashaba led the protest, which saw some victims sharing their injustices by the NPA before a memorandum of demands was signed and handed over to a representative of the minister.
Demands to justice minister
In the memo, the party demanded that the minister, as the Cabinet member responsible for justice and constitutional development, engaged President Cyril Ramaphosa to exercise the powers afforded him under Section 12 of the National Prosecuting Authority Act and initiate the formal process for the removal of Batohi.
A call for Batohi’s suspension and investigation into NPA
Mashaba said the process must begin with her immediate suspension, pending an investigation into the systemic dysfunction in the NPA.
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“While acknowledging that overhauling and correcting the NPA does not begin and end with the removal of Batohi, it remains an important first step in demonstrating that continued poor performance will be met with decisive action.
“South Africans are clear in their demand for us to fight to end the culture of impunity and to put the institution on notice that it must either deliver, or face the consequences,” he said.
‘Genuine sense of hope’
Mashaba said Batohi’s appointment in December 2018 was intended to mark a break from the dark era of state capture, a period marked by political interference and institutional decay.
“Her arrival was met with rare national consensus and a genuine sense of hope that justice would finally be restored and those responsible for looting the state would be held accountable. Yet, nearly six years later, that hope has curdled,” he said.
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