NPA’s Investigating Directorate struggling with skills and capacity, MPs told

The head of the Investigating Directorate (ID), advocate Hermione Cronje, says the ID is struggling with capacity challenges, especially recruiting skilled investigators and prosecutors to work on its numerous cases of state capture and corruption at state-owned entities.

Briefing the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday along with officials from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) , the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Hawks, Cronje said the ID was in desperate need of capable investigators and prosecutors equal to the scale and scope of cases the directorate is seized with.

ALSO READ: Transnet ‘forgot’ to get approval for R15.6bn locomotive price increase

The ID was established by President Cyril Ramaphosa in March 2019 within the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions, advocate Shamila Batohi.

Some of the investigations the directorate has been seized with include testimony before the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture on allegations of corruption at Eskom and Transnet.

Cronje said the ID was dependent on personnel seconded from other law enforcement agencies and temporary contractors. To make matters worse for the ID, Cronje said the NPA Act does not make provision for the appointment of investigators on a permanent basis.

“These cases involve not only senior politicians, senior executives and multinationals and they’re supported by teams of accountants, lawyers and management consulting firms that help them disguise what they were doing. The challenge is enormous when we are faced with the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt and you have to persuade a court you are relying on admissible evidence,” Cronje said.

She said most of the cases referred to the ID were complex, which contributed to delays in finalising cases and bringing them to court for prosecution.

The dire skills shortages in the public sector, recruitment of financial investigators and the need for critical litigation skills at sustainable remuneration rates were also major challenges for the ID, she said.

ALSO READ: Zondo hears more testimony on Transnet locomotives contract

Cronje said the sheer volume of information investigators and prosecutors have to deal with in order to extract sustainable charges also added to the delays.

She said in late 2020 the ID reached an agreement with the state capture commission to use its sophisticated technology to sift through the data.

“I have to point out that our biggest challenge to date has been the data involved in these dockets. In order to do these investigations we not only have to move swiftly through past volumes of contracts and tender documents, but we also have reams and reams of bank records.

“With every bank statement, there would another 30 bank statements that money was transferred into and then you have to follow those up .”

Cronje said the ID had obtained a deviation to recruit skills and capacity from the state capture commission, but plans to transition the commission’s resources and capacity to the ID was delayed by the inquiry’s three-month extension in February.

The commission is expected to complete its report by 30 June 2021.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.