‘Being in boxing ring different from shouting on the sidelines’: Batohi defends NPA’s slow pace of corruption prosecutions

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Shamila Batohi has once again defended the slow progress in prosecuting corruption and related crimes, citing challenges such as skill shortages and the complexity of cases.

On Wednesday, officials from the NPA, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), known as the Hawks, appeared before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa).

The law enforcement agencies provided updates on corruption investigations involving government departments, entities, and municipalities.

NPA corruption referrals

During the briefing, MPs learned that since 2018, the SIU has referred 3 320 criminal cases to the NPA, including 1 162 involving fraud offences.

Despite these referrals, concerns were raised over the NPA’s slow progress in prosecuting individuals implicated in corruption investigations.

Addressing the committee, Batohi pointed to the lack of specialised skills as a significant obstacle to expediting prosecutions, particularly in complex corruption cases like those linked to state capture.

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The National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) indicated that the Hawks face similar challenges, with numerous commercial and corruption-related cases still under investigation.

“All of the entities, particularly the DPCI and the NPA, have really been struggling with capacity and capabilities to deal with complex corruption matters.

“These types of cases require very special skills, which even if we can actually hire them, we can’t pay the salaries that these type of skills require to pay,” she said on Wednesday.

Watch the meeting below:

Batohi revealed that the NPA, along with its entities — the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) and the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) — has been losing investigators to the SIU and the private sector.

“We are limited by public service salaries and some of the entities like the SIU don’t have that limitation,” the NDPP said.

“We, at the NPA, are the ones that supply the private sector and other entities in government. Building capacity under those circumstances is extremely difficult.”

Batohi on NPA prosecutions

Batohi pointed out that there were major systemic challenges in how law enforcement agencies handle corruption cases despite significant efforts and collaboration.

“In as much as we will do all we can to prosecute, prosecutions are not going to solve the problem in our country.”

She explained that the investigation and prosecution of corruption cases remain slow due to several factors, including the use of Stalingrad tactics by accused individuals to delay court proceedings and obstruct convictions.

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The NDPP said even when convictions were secured, they typically focus on individuals rather than institutions, such as government departments or municipalities.

This, she argued, often leaves systemic corruption intact, creating opportunities for “new crooks” to exploit these institutions.

“Without a committed and ethical leadership and good governance in the ministries, the various government [departments and] municipalities, we will do all that we can but we will just sort of be like little mice running in a circle. We are not going to solve the problem.”

NPA’s progress on corruption cases

Batohi further stated that while the SIU’s identification of prima facie evidence of corruption and subsequent referrals to the NPA were crucial, they were not sufficient on their own to prosecute those implicated.

“The last thing we want is to enroll a matter and then find that we have to either investigate more after arrests for example or we find that it doesn’t meet the standard of reason prospects of a successful prosecution,” she explained.

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The NDPP highlighted that, despite severe fiscal constraints and limited capacity, the NPA has made significant progress over the past three and a half years.

“People expected post-Zondo [Commission] that there were cases ready for us to take to court,” Batohi said.

“When I took this job I thought how difficult can it be to get one big case in court that’s going to turn sentiment around like that, [but] I now realise how difficult it is.

“I can understand the people of South Africa feeling the same, [asking] ‘why are you taking so long it should be easy?’ But when you’re in the boxing ring it’s different from shouting on the sidelines.”

No interference with NPA

Later, Batohi addressed a question regarding potential political interference in the NPA’s work.

She was asked whether senior politicians had ever pressured the prosecuting authority to prioritise specific corruption cases.

“We as a country should be grateful that we have a president that respects the rule of law fully,” the NDPP said.

She stressed that the NPA has received support from the executive and assured that there has been no interference or any suggestion to overlook certain cases.

“I think the country can be truly proud that we have an executive like that, that truly understands the independence [of the NPA] because we know what happened in the past.”

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