NPA needs a shake-up
National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi went on a media tour, trying to explain the litany of blunders by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) after yet another suspect has been set free after the institution bungled the case.
Moroadi Cholota, the ex-personal assistant of former Free State premier and corruption accused Ace Magashule, walked free after the Bloemfontein High Court ruled it had no jurisdiction because her extradition from the US was unlawful. The court upheld a special plea Cholota raised on the NPA's decision to haul her back to South Africa, that the justice minister, instead of the NPA, should have applied for her extradition.
READ: As NPA is under fire over Cholota, Batohi announces preparations for Gupta extraditions
The NPA had failed to timeously challenge an earlier ruling involving Johnathan Schultz in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to this effect, and this created a precedent that could not be overruled by a lower court. In an embarrassing episode, the NPA earlier filed notice not to challenge the Schultz ruling, then later sought to withdraw it. Ruling in the Cholota matter, Judge Phillip Loubser said the NPA must have known about the Schultz matter and the precedent it would create.
This was just the latest in a series of bungles by the NPA that has allowed many accused people to go free either on technicalities or due to the sheer incompetence of prosecutors, as the judge in the Timothy Omotoso case clearly pronounced. The Nigerian evangelist accused of raping young women from his South African church was acquitted of all charges. The prosecutors were accused of mishandling the case.
In a TV interview, Batohi blamed rogue prosecutors in the NPA system, but insisted that the NPA was otherwise doing a great job.
The facts do not bear her out and, as she leaves her post next year, her legacy will be declining faith in the NPA and the justice system in general.
Besides the prominent political cases, South Africa has been in the throes of a debilitating wave of gender-based violence, with the murder of Olorato Mongale being the latest prominent case. The two thugs responsible for Mongale's murder had earlier been released by the courts on bail after being charged with a similar kidnapping and theft case.
If we had a functional criminal justice system, those two would not have been on the streets and Olorato would probably still be alive.
Therefore, we expect Batohi to do more than just join the public lamentation. She is in charge of the NPA and needs to fundamentally shake up how that institution works. The hideously high crime rate in this country demands an incredibly efficient prosecuting authority, but that is not what we have at the moment.
As the president gears up to appoint a new NPA head, policymakers must start a conversation about how to strengthen the justice cluster, and the NPA in particular.
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