‘A refuge for the connected’ — ActionSA slams NPA, calls for Batohi’s removal

While the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) continues to face criticism over its failure to lead successful prosecutions in several high-profile cases, ActionSA staged a protest outside the justice minister’s offices in Tshwane on Thursday, 19 June, calling for the removal of NPA boss Shamila Batohi. 

“Worryingly, the NPA has become a refuge for the politically connected, a place where accountability is avoided, justice is delayed and prosecutions collapse with alarming regularity,” said ActionSA president Herman Mashaba and the party’s parliamentary head Athol Trollip in a joint statement after submitting a memorandum.

“Supported by victims of the NPA’s failure to ensure that our criminal justice system protects the public and tackles rampant lawlessness, ActionSA’s demand for the removal of advocate Batohi rests on the lived experiences of those who have been failed by a prosecuting body clearly incapable of fulfilling its mandate.”

Batohi has faced criticism after several State Capture cases have been thrown out of court.

Read more: Shamila Batohi and the NPA’s week from hell — Failed extradition and calls for her resignation

ActionSA supporters emphasised the Timothy Omotoso case, with the Nigerian televangelist walking free in April after being cleared of all 32 charges – including rape and human trafficking.

Hlengiwe Zondi, 23, an ActionSA supporter who arrived from Johannesburg, told Daily Maverick that she attended Thursday’s protest because she was concerned about what the Omotoso case meant for her own safety. 

“I am very scared. I am very scared for myself, for my younger sisters. I am scared for every single girl.

“The release of Omotoso after so much clear evidence against him, for me, was an indication that not a single woman or girl is safe under the current leadership of the NPA … What angers me most is that the leader of the NPA is a woman herself,” Zondi said.

Sibongile Msomi, 48, said, “These are the cases you want to use and set an example to intruders like Omotoso, whose actions amounted to peeing on our sovereignty. He needs to be brought back.

“There will be no shame in the NPA in doing that, failed as they have. In fact, many South Africans would be delighted to see Omotoso brought back to face the music. I did not trust the NPA at all since the Zuma years, but now I hate them for their conduct in the Omotoso and many State Capture cases,” said.

Msomi, who said she was not a supporter of ActionSA, urged all South Africans to voice their displeasure with the criminal justice system.

“It only benefits the rich and corners ordinary South Africans,” Msomi said.

Omotoso left the country in May and was declared a prohibited person for overstaying his visa and entering SA on a false permit. 

Read more: NPA’s failure to convict Timothy Omotoso is the latest in a string of debacles

“Batohi must go. We need somebody new, hopefully with a much clearer vision and guts,” Tisietso Mofokeng, 39, from the East Rand, said on Thursday.

The ActionSA leaders said that while Batohi’s 2018 appointment was met with hope that the NPA would move past an era defined by State Capture, “that hope has curdled into deep public disillusionment”.

“The institution remains directionless, riven by internal factionalism, and wholly unable, or unwilling, to act decisively against either high-level corruption or pervasive violent crime.

“From troubling vacancy rates across provinces and key units within the NPA, to the failure to prosecute any high-profile cases arising from the Zondo Commission, to botched cases involving Timothy Omotoso, Ace Magashule, Moroadi Cholota and Zizi Kodwa, and the apparent laissez-faire approach to consequence management within the institution, the case for the removal of the NDPP is made by her own widely evident failures as the head of the institution.

Batohi refuses to step aside

Batohi has repeatedly denied that the NPA is in crisis. 

“I want to say that, as the NDPP, I will not be stepping down because I believe that we are doing a really good job to serve the people of this country – as we have been – and, particularly, the victims of crime,” Batohi told MPs in Parliament this week.

Read more: ‘I will not step down,’ NPA head Shamila Batohi tells MPs

Batohi conceded there were “10 to 12 cases… that the NPA is coming for a lot of flak on”. 

“There are legal processes and I urge that we consider these cases individually and consider where is the actual problem. And once we understand the actual problem, make sure we put in place solutions which address the problem,” she said.

“There are huge systemic problems in the criminal justice system. And I want to say that as the national director, I will not be [stepping] down because I believe that we are doing a really good job. And I will continue with my really good team to serve the people of this country,” said Batohi.

Read more: NPA secures major State Capture win: Gupta associates and Free State officials face retrial

In a recent SABC interview, Batohi said, “There certainly have been setbacks and I don’t want to underplay that. There’ve been major setbacks for the institution. But we’re dealing with them.”

During her presentation to the parliamentary justice committee on Tuesday, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said one of the problems facing the NPA was corruption. She said lifestyle audits could help address this. 

“With lifestyle audits, we are able to see the patterns. We have agreed that this work will be done and we have committed that it will be started in this financial year,” she said. 

Batohi’s term is set to expire in January 2026, and civil society groups have called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to make the appointment process of her successor public, in a similar fashion to the public interviews Batohi faced before she was appointed. DM