NPA targets corruption as its priority

Corruption is the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) No 1 priority right now, according to national director of
prosecutions Shamila Batohi.

“Corruption has always been a top priority for the NPA”, but a decision was taken at a recent workshop to prioritise it even further, she said at a press briefing yesterday.

“We decided work will continue in other areas, but corruption is going to be the prioritised area in the NPA.”

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse chief executive Wayne Duvenage was yesterday hopeful this was “the start of a new chapter”.

ALSO READ: SA losing war against corruption, says analyst

“We hope this latest development is going to kick-start a new energy – specifically in the ID [Investigating Directorate] – with strong leadership and that we’ll see the authorities getting over the barriers, dealing with what
they’ve got, working closely with society and making sure those prosecutors and investigators do their work, and do it hard, and are put to task and given deadlines.”

He said it was disheartening that 2½ years after the ID’s establishment, there was relatively little to show in terms of arrests.

A further special focus Batohi pointed to was recovering looted funds through civil proceedings and the work of the Asset Forfeiture Unit.

Political analyst Sandile Swana said: “I think the Special Investigating Unit has been doing hard work on that.

“Although they are recovering less than what most of us would have expected, they are nevertheless recovering money,” he said.

When it came to criminal prosecutions, however, he was less confident because “we’ve not seen convincing results in the past”.

Batohi’s comments came amid growing concerns around low arrest numbers and delays in the prosecutions of those who have been charged with corruption, specifically state-capture related corruption.

They also came hot on the heels of last week’s news that Hermione Cronje was resigning as head of the ID, which is tasked with handling this kind of crime, and speculation that the NPA was in crisis.

Batohi insisted the latter was not the case “and there is no widespread sabotage of the ID or any part of the NPA taking place”.

Cronje’s resignation was the “culmination of various factors” she said, denying reports to the effect that a strained relationship between the two was the reason.

She did, however, say the country’s law enforcement agencies, including the NPA, needed “to do a lot more”.

“People in South Africa don’t feel safe and don’t feel justice is being delivered swiftly or broadly enough,” she said.

ALSO READ: The NPA is not in a crisis, insists Batohi

In response to questions about the apparent slow progress at the ID, Batohi said she could “fully understand the impatience of the people of South Africa”, but emphasised the unit had only been around for 2½ years.

“We still have a long way to go. We aren’t anywhere near where we want to be, but clearly the age of impunity is over,” she said.

“And that is important: even though the wheels of justice are moving slowly, they are moving.”

Deputy national director of public prosecutions Rodney de Kock said the NPA would be assessing all high-profile matters, ensuring it had “the best capabilities available”.

“Addressing corruption is not a sprint, it is a marathon. But at least we are on the right track,” Batohi said.

In terms of prosecuting strategies, authorities had to look at prioritising “perhaps the less serious
cases” in the short term.

“And getting them to court while we are looking at the longterm, more complicated charges that take time,” she said.
– bernadettew@citizen.co.za