Scopa meeting with NPA, Hawks, SIU lays bare criminal justice shortfalls

It all started when EFF MP Veronica Mente asked why it was decided not to prosecute 63 of the 84 Eastern Cape cases that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) referred to the NPA. In prosecutorial lingo, that’s called nolle prosequi, a decision that effectively ends criminal prosecution. 

“We can’t have 14 dockets Buffalo Metro nolle prosequi [out of 14 cases],” said Mente, also adding that it was problematic because people insisted they had been cleared because of the lack of prosecutions, even though the rot continued.

Mente was speaking in Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), on Tuesday, 18 August, as the National Prosecuting Authority and Hawks (the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) briefed MPs on cases referred to them by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

Further questions emerged over the 2013 funeral of Nelson Mandela, where the misuse of around R300-million included kickbacks to Eastern Cape government officials.

Scopa chairperson Songezo Zibi said, given that claims the matter was in court, it seemed there was something wrong with the data of presentation that showed four nolle prosequi, or no prosecution, decisions. Confusion was cleared up over tea break, when WhatsApp messages to the NPA delegation relayed that one funeral matter was in court, but postponed to January 2027.

NPA boss Andy Mothibi knew arguing was pointless and told MPs that he’d do the extra work to come up with answers. “The docket will tell us what happened. We have to draw the dockets to find out what happened.”

‘No cooperation’

As it turned out, that may not be necessary. After MPs were told how a prosecutor would note the decision not to prosecute in the docket, it later emerged that while prosecutors did not directly inform their bosses, an independent written record did exist.

As Eastern Cape director of public prosecutions Samkelo Mtwana said, “You don’t have to go to the docket; for all these matters there is a register.”

His Hawks Eastern Cape counterpart, Brigadier Mluleki Dyasi, told MPs the general reason for nolle prosequi was insufficient evidence, even if investigators had done what they could and completed the docket. Often, crime was reported late, witnesses were uncooperative, and it was difficult to get documents.

“You only get cases reported just before the elections… if that particular person or political party wins that election, you will not get any cooperation.”

Covid PPE cases

The Eastern Cape was under the spotlight on Tuesday for its nolle prosequi decisions. But the difficulty is not confined to that province. Decisions not to prosecute also emerged across provinces, government departments and in connection with Covid-19 personal protective equipment (PPE), where scandals involving tens of millions of rands emerged during the lockdowns.

The presentation to MPs talked about the SIU referring 304 PPE matters to the NPA for criminal prosecutions, leading to 17 jail terms without the option of a fine, 22 jail terms with the option of a fine and 33 cases where fines totalling R2,652,000 were imposed. 

The devil is in the detail. The 62-page presentation also shows how, in KwaZulu-Natal, 32 PPE cases were not prosecuted; in the Eastern Cape, 19, and 54 cases were not prosecuted in the Free State. In the Transnet PPE investigations, 43 cases were withdrawn, 13 prosecutions ended in convictions and seven in acquittals, while in 108 cases it was decided not to prosecute.

The numbers were difficult to reconcile from the start. A powwow during tea break failed to improve the situation. The broad picture presented to Scopa was of 99 accused before courts that are hearing 15 cases, 11 cases finalised and another 56 cases under investigation.

The right hand...

It is complex. SIU referrals do not necessarily translate to one docket and one prosecution. Often several SIU referrals are grouped in dockets.

In relation to recommendations arising from the Zondo Commission on State Capture, the SIU made 132 criminal referrals to the NPA arising from different matters, which were combined with existing investigations by the Investigating Directorate against Corruption (Idac).

Without an automated and integrated case management system, the challenge is tracking SIU referrals and the work of other specialist investigators like Idac or the Hawks. A criminal justice sector modernisation and case management system remains a work in progress since it began in 1996 and was rebooted in 2017. 

Right now, the NPA cannot access the SAPS’ CAS docket system, and each uses different criteria to record completed cases, convictions and the like. Between all of them, they use “a sheet” to try to keep track, MPs heard.

Instead, it emerged that the Presidency’s own case-tracking system, being developed by the State Information Technology Agency (Sita) since 2025, is progressing. As Mothibi explained, “There is a system that’s being worked on in the Presidency, and that system should give us the capability to see where a case is.”

Resource constraints

Tuesday’s marathon session was tough for the NPA, SIU and Hawks delegations. Yet, when MPs gave the prosecution services and specialist investigators an opportunity to outline their specialist skills and staffing shortages – Scopa’s mandate is public spending, after all – they failed to talk straight.

With only 2,681 of the Hawks’ just over 5,000 posts filled – a vacancy rate of 49% – acting Hawks boss Lieutenant General Siphesihle “ST” Nkosi instead talked about having a recruitment strategy and how recruitment must focus on the “suspicious police mind”.

“We do have the funding. Maybe the reason why this gap keeps on [is that] we recruit amongst each other,” he said in reference to poaching across the criminal justice system and the loss of skills to the better-paying private sector. 

His SIU acting counterpart, Leonard Lekgetho, was similarly coy. “We can easily say we can never be sufficiently resourced. More investigations are coming, requiring more investigators.”

For Mothibi, the headache of a key vacancy continues – it remains unclear when an interim Idac boss will be announced. In the wake of her damning testimony before the Madlanga Commission, Andrea Johnson resigned with immediate effect in late July. Although Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, in a media conference, spoke of a speedy interim appointment, three weeks have now passed.

“We did not anticipate the length of time the vetting process would take,” Mothibi told Daily Maverick on the sidelines of Tuesday’s Scopa meeting.

It might take a while. Nkosi told MPs it takes a year to get security clearance. DM