NPA, Hawks to go after ‘influential persons’ implicated in state capture

Cases against the alleged architects of state capture are expected to be enrolled by the end of September.

This is according to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known as the Hawks.

National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi and Hawks boss Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya met last Friday to discuss the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture’s final report, which was released last month.

Batohi and Lebeya expressed their commitment to ensuring accountability for those implicated in state capture.

‘Influential persons’

At this stage, the Investigating Directorate (ID) has declared 86 investigations, while 21 matters have also been enrolled in court.

In addition, 65 accused persons have appeared in court on alleged state capture crimes.

“The NPA and DPCI will continue to prioritise state capture matters through the joint NPA/DPCI Task Force, which is a team that was established to drive coordination to ensure impact in response to the Zondo reports.

“The comprehensive report contains over 150 recommendations relevant to the two entities, many of which relate to matters already being handled by the NPA’s Investigating Directorate and the DPCI.

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“The final Zondo report provides additional impetus for increased cooperation and urgency in execution of respective NPA/DPCI mandates,” the entities said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The NPA and Hawks indicated that additional seminal matters would be enrolled before the end of September 2022.

“Seminal matters refer to cases involving the alleged architects of state capture, including influential persons and private sector actors, and/or large sums of money,” the institutions said.

“These cases will be handled by a dedicated teams of investigators and prosecutors who have the necessary expertise in prosecution-guided processes involving complex matters.

“The teams will be sufficiently resourced and co-located either in the NPA or the DPCI offices. The NPA and DPCI are harnessing all their resources and expertise, reprioritising matters to ensure that state capture cases proceed as a matter of urgency in our commitment to ensure accountability and uphold the rule of law,” the entities concluded.

Zondo criticises NPA

The commission, chaired by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, previously criticised the NPA’s failure to prosecute cases of corruption.

In the first report, Zondo said the NPA’s failure to respond “adequately, or at all” to the challenges of state capture corruption “points to a fundamental failure of a sovereign state function”.

Zondo suggested in the recommendations of the report that a new independent anti-procurement corruption agency be established.

He also recommended that a number of implicated former officials face prosecution.

The NPA then in April announced that it had created a task force to deal with the cases that were covered in the state capture reports following Zondo’s criticism.

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