Has Shamila Batohi done enough as NDPP?

The appointment of Shamila Batohi as national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) sparked hopes of a major turnaround at the beleaguered state unit five years ago, but the results so far, according to experts, have been mostly disappointing.

A former state prosecutor, Democratic Alliance MP Glynnis Breytenbach said although she did not think Batohi should be suspended or step down, the NDPP was clearly not cracking the whip enough, especially in regards to state capture cases.

Deeply compromised organisation

According to Breytenbach, Batohi inherited a deeply compromised organisation.

“She’s tried hard to address the systemic issues in the organisation and there’s a lot of corruption within the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) which is not easy to address overnight.

“So, I think she’s done some work on that,” she said.

Breytenbach said the NPA was probably in a better space now than it was five years ago.

“They’ve got a very limited budget, limited resources, which has cost human resources as well. They’ve got a serious lack of experience. Most of the prosecutors who knew how to do anything … retired or resigned. So, it hasn’t been easy,” she said.

“The police, as well, are deeply compromised. The NPA relied on the police to produce dockets that could be prosecuted. So, it’s not a one-man band.

“I don’t think she has done enough. But should she be suspended? No, I don’t think so.”

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State capture

Breytenbach added state capture cases took a long time to prepare and investigate.

“But there is no excuse for some to take this long. Some have been around for the last five to six years,” she said.

Career

Batohi began her career as a junior prosecutor in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court in 1986 and steadily advanced to become the director of public prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal.

She was seconded to the equivalent of the Special Investigating Unit established by former president Nelson Mandela in 1995 and later served as the first regional head of the Directorate of Special Operations (Scorpions), based in KZN. For much of the past decade, she served as a senior legal advisor to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

However, so far under Batohi, the critical indicators of NPA performance have become worse. GroundUp reported in 2020, that during her first year in charge (April 2019 to March 2020), the number of convictions dropped to 217 467 – down more than eight percent from 236 705 the previous year

Successes and failures

Criminal cases dropped by about 10% from just over a million to 916 714. The NPA was entrusted with the prosecution of cases which emerged from the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, but it seems not much has been accomplished.

According to political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast, Batohi has failed. Her appointment by President Cyril Ramaphosa in February 2019, was aligned to the new dawn of restructuring. However, it did not seem as though Ramaphosa had achieved his intended objective.

“You must remember her predecessor’s [Shaun Abrahams] appointment was reversed by the court of law because that institution was also captured. So, when Ramaphosa came into power, he wanted to change that institution for the better,” he said.

“But I don’t think he achieved this… There have been arrests but there have not been people who have been found guilty, in particular with regard to the state capture project.”

Fitness to hold office

The United Democratic Movement recently called for a commission of inquiry into Batohi’s fitness to hold office. The call emerged after the NPA’s failure to prosecute its first state capture case, which lead to an acquittal, and the failed bid to extradite alleged state capture kingpins Rajesh and Atul Gupta from the United Arab Emirates.

With none of the “big fish” named at the commission having appeared in court yet, Breakfast said: “Unfortunately, she has not done much; her track record doesn’t speak for itself and there has not been a person successfully prosecuted.

“It is their responsibility to make sure they lead prosecutions. The burden of proof rests with the person who makes the allegation, but why has this thing not been proven beyond reasonable doubt now?”

A lot of work

In her acceptance speech in 2018, Batohi said there was a lot of work to be done and the work of the NPA under her leadership would be underpinned by strong governance and independence.

The NPA would have her full support, although it was not unconditional, and “those elements, within and without, who insist on frustrating the ends of justice and ultimately the nation, will not be tolerated.

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