Cape Town - The head of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Shamila Batohi said on Tuesday that the wheels of justice were beginning to turn with regard to corruption.
Appearing before the standing committee on public accounts to brief it on Special Investigating Unit (SIU) cases, Batohi said the prosecuting body was beginning to move slightly more quickly and there had been notable arrests in recent weeks involving the private sector in the Tongaat Hullet case in KwaZulu-Natal.
“It is an indication that wheels of justice are moving,” she said.
However, the prosecuting boss noted that the three years at the helm at the NPA have been extremely challenging.
“We were hoping we would be a little more down the line in terms of cases and bring cases to court. What is clear is that even though we are not where we want to be, we are far from where we started,” Batohi said.
“There has been a lot of work that has gone in the past three years. There is still a lot of work still to happen. We now have a full leadership team at the helm of NPA that is strongly committed to the rule of law, accountability and ensuring we hold people accountable for all cases and different types of crime the NPA has to deal with.”
Batohi said the NPA, which was fresh from last week’s three-day strategic implementation session, “decided our top priority will be focusing on corruption” in the next six months.
She added that the work from the SIU was one small aspect of corruption work the NPA was dealing with.
Batohi said the NPA was a lead player in the national effort to deal with all damaging crimes.
“We have to take a holistic approach to reform and improvements that are needed in the criminal justice system. We need better co-ordination. We need effective alignment of our performance indicators and various processes. We need to act with a sense of urgency.”
She told the MPs that the law enforcement agencies needed to pull in the same direction in order to achieve the shared goal and make accountability a norm and not an exception.
Batohi said the public needed to understand their various roles.
“We should not allow false narratives that are in the media that take us against each other.”
The prosecution boss told the MPs the roles played by the SIU and NPA were governed by different acts and operated under different regimes and mandates.
She explained the requirements that needed to be met in both civil and criminal matters, saying the former made findings on balance of probability, whereas the latter required proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
“Most of the matters referred by the SIU create an impression that they are ready for prosecution and the NPA must take a decision to prosecute. That is not the case.”
Batohi said there was need to change the legislation which now provides for the SIU to make referral to the NPA, which does not do criminal investigation.
She said the NPA was forwarding referrals for investigation made by SIU to the Directorate of Priority Crimes (DPCI).
“We do feel that legislative changes are required to address this so that referrals to the NPA are not necessary but referrals to investigative agencies become the norm which could be Independent Directorate (ID) and DPCI.”
Batohi said they were looking forward to the second phase of the ID, saying it was poised to deliver on its mandate.
She said as the Zondo Commission was winding up its work, its resources would be migrated to the ID and boost its capacity to deal with corruption cases much more effectively.
“We are looking forward to moving into a new building, a new leader, clear strategies and case plans. I really find the second phase of ID the exciting one. We will demonstrate in terms of cases that come to court.”
Batohi decried the challenges of lack of specialised resources in the NPA.
“We really need to look at moving faster to the point we have a full and effective prosecution-led model in terms of high profile and complex corruption matters. We need to be bold and innovative in how we get additional skills,” Batohi said.
She said the NPA has sent to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development director general and Minister Ronald Lamola a proposal to set a donor oversight mechanism to ensure there was proper oversight with any donation the NPA may receive for skills and financial assistance.
“Working through the National Treasury, we need to put in place required safeguards to ensure that the NPA mandate is not compromised.”
Political Bureau