Shamila Batohi says there has ‘definitely’ been sabotage in the NPA, but denies crisis

“I think we have a crisis of organised crime in the country, but certainly the NPA is not in crisis,” said advocate Shamila Batohi, the head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), on whether or not there was a crisis in the prosecution of crime in South Africa. 

Batohi was speaking on Thursday, 28 August 2025, in Cape Town, at The Gathering, Daily Maverick’s flagship event, during a rapid-fire question session with journalist Caryn Dolley.

“I think the criminal justice system faces many challenges, and the crisis is strong, but I think perhaps we need to call it like it is — I think there is a crisis in this country,” she said. 

During the session, Dolley launched into a laundry list of issues: a seeming failure to prosecute State Capture-era crimes, as well as the ongoing murders in areas such as the Cape Flats. 

Back in June, it seemed like a month from hell for the NPA. It was accused of bungling the extradition of Moroadi Cholota, the former personal assistant of corruption-accused former Free State premier Ace Magashule. Then it was the acquittal of Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso on charges of rape and human trafficking, among others.

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

In Parliament, Batohi said she would not resign after calls from MPs, who said the NPA was failing, for her to do so.

Speaking on these issues, Batohi, who has been head of the authority since 1 February 2019, said she did not believe the NPA was in crisis, but rather that there was a wider crisis when it came to organised crime. 

When pushed about suggestions that there had been efforts from within the NPA to sabotage the prosecution of certain crimes, Batohi said there “definitely has been”.

“You know, I mean we’ve come through a period of State Capture, and that’s why I welcome the Madlanga Commission because I think if things like that are still going on, we need to root out the bad apples in our institutions and we need to make sure that, after a fair process, we kick them out.”

Earlier this week, it was announced that the Madlanga Commission had been delayed due to infrastructure issues, and that implicated officials had been suspended, as reported by Daily Maverick. This followed explosive allegations of political interference and corruption made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. 

“At the moment, there are allegations, and you know we need to ensure that they are properly aired and we know what’s going on, and that we deal with it,” she said. 

When asked about the prosecution of State Capture-era crimes, Batohi said: “To win this fight takes a lot of effort, and this is not a fight that can be won in the short term.”

Decimation of state institutions

What was required, Batohi said, was an understanding of the decimation of state institutions during the State Capture era — “to rebuild that capacity is not an overnight thing, it’s a journey”. 

Batohi, who is due to retire next year, said there had been progress, such as establishing the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) as a fully formed programme, and improving capacity within the NPA. 

“In order to deal with these cases, you need strong institutions,” said Batohi. “That is the drudgery of back office work that doesn’t make the headlines, but we’ve actually set up a really strong institution to do exactly that, to make sure there’s quick cases.” 

But ultimately, as Dolley asked, will South Africans see the infamous Gupta brothers in orange overalls? 

Batohi said: “It’s not going to be easy. We are currently putting together a new extradition application with a lot more charges than we did the first time around… It’s not going to be easy, but I do believe that with all our efforts, we will see them back in South Africa.” DM