Batohi explains why NPA did not investigate prosecutors in 2021 Omotoso trial

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Shamila Batohi has explained why the state took three years to investigate prosecutors involved in the trial of controversial Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso.

Omotoso and his co-accused, Lusanda Solani and Zukiswa Sitho, were acquitted by the Gqeberha High Court of 32 serious charges, including allegations of rape, racketeering and human trafficking, on 2 April.

Judge Irma Schoeman said the state had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

“Unfortunately, in this matter, there have been problems, some of which can be classified as unethical conduct or incompetence of the prosecution, even from before the trial commenced, which only came to the fore during the trial,” said Judge Schoeman.

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“The cross-examination of the accused was desultory in the extreme. No thought went into it. Similarly ineffectual and superficial was the cross-examination of accused 2 and 3 that amounted to no cross-examination at all.”

NPA: ‘Judge erred’

On Tuesday, Barry Madolo, the NPA’s director of Public Prosecutions in the Eastern Cape, announced that they would appeal the judgment.

The NPA believes that there are reasonable prospects of a successful appeal despite the complexities of the legal process.

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“The first step in this process is to request that the judge clarify factual findings.”

The relevant papers in this regard were filed with the Registrar of the High Court in Gqeberha on Monday.

“Once a clarification of the factual findings is received from the Judge, the NPA’s legal team will finalise the papers on the reservation of questions of law and file this application with the Registrar of the High Court.”

Investigation of prosecutors

The NPA has also launched an internal investigation into the conduct of the first team of prosecutors involved in this matter, which started in August 2024, despite allegations of misconduct against the prosecutors surfacing back in 2021.

Addressing the portfolio committee on justice and constitutional development on Friday, Batohi said the NPA believed that there were reasonable prospects for a successful appeal.

She said further action would also be taken against the prosecutors, depending on the outcomes of the investigation.

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Batohi said the investigation into the prosecutors’ conduct was at an advanced stage when the judgment was delivered. However, since the judge highly criticised the prosecutors in the case, the NPA extended the scope of the investigation.

“If the investigation confirms any possible misconduct, the matters will be referred to the NPA’s office of ethics and accountability to deal with those cases,” said Batohi.

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“In December 2021, it already came to light that there may have been possible misconduct on the part of prosecutors relating to influencing the witnesses in the main trial. This is why the decision to proceed with the investigation was delayed; they would need to get statements from the witnesses in the main trial, and they did not want to complicate the issue. They were going through a complex and difficult time, having to testify in the main case.

Why they waited

“They decided to wait for the start of the investigations until they had completed their evidence in the main trial. At the time when the judgment was delivered in April, the investigator was in the final stages of the investigation, I’m advised that at a point she could have compiled a report. But the scope has been expanded now, and I’m expecting to receive the report soon.

“On 15 and 16 April, we appointed additional officials to assist the original investigator because of the extended scope created by the judgment. The team is expected to complete the investigation and have the report by mid-June this year.”

“As a national director, I want to ensure that what happened must never happen again. We are lawyers for the people, and so we really want to understand this, learn from it, and ensure that any wrongs are corrected.”

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